Hero
by JTOM
Summary: Finn has always wanted to be a hero. And now- he might just have his chance. It's going to take a lot of time and effort. And more than a few third-degree burns. AU
1. Just Finn

_Chapter One: Just Finn_

The rain was loud. But it was a welcome change from the silence he had grown accustomed too. Finn stretched his arms, and groaned. It had been another long, mostly boring day. Finn walked over to a giant rock, punched it a few times to make sure it wasn't alive- and then laid down on top of it.

Yessiree, just another long, boring day...

Finn sighed. Rocks weren't the most comfortable thing to sleep on. Clouds were the most comfortable thing to sleep on. Unfortunately- he didn't have anyway to get up high enough to grab one. Plus- he always got sunburnt whenever he slept on top of the clouds. So that was out. He would just have to settle for the dark cave he was currently resting in.

It was too bad. Sure, it leaked a little- and it was really cold; but it was better than lying down in the wet grass outside. Or at least- he thought it was. He sat up, and stared out the cave's entrance. Then he remembered that he tended to get sick whenever he slept in the rain, and a wave of disappointment washed over him.

"Aw, man... I can't fall asleep like this..." he muttered. "I mean- no milk, no cookies... actually- I haven't eaten in a long time. I wonder if there are any gummi-bats in this cave..." Finn sat himself up slowly. He had left his handy-dandy backpack near the entrance. It had his trusty sword in it- and everybody knows that you need a _really_ trusty sword to hunt gummi-bats. He frowned. "Heeey... where's my handy-dandy backpack?" he wondered aloud. "I left it right here, and..." Finn was interrupted, when he noticed something moving around in the rain. He frowned.

"Don't tell me... something snatched my backpack!? Hey!" he yelled. The figure outside began to move further into the distance. Finn growled. "Oh, no you don't! Get back here with my stuff!" he yelled, as he raced out into the rain. It was too dark to see anything. Finn frowned. He squinted and strained- but he couldn't see anything. Finn crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. This was the fourth time this year that he had gotten his handy-dandy backpack snatched away. His dad was going to be...

Finn stopped mid-thought, and tried to cram down the gummy emotions that were beginning to rise into his chest. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning. In an instant- Finn could see the entire valley. The tall senior citizen trees that were all either fast asleep or yelling at him to get off of their lawn, the fields of odd-looking purple grass with toadstools growing in it that were made of diamond- and of course, the most interesting thing to Finn at that moment; his handy-dandy backpack. Currently being hoisted away by small creature.

The light left just as soon as it had appeared, leaving in its wake a wave of thunder that seemed to shake the very air.

"HEEEEEY!" yelled Finn. "I SAW YOOOU! COOOOME BAAAACK!"

The little creature holding Finn's handy-dandy backpack spared him a glance, and then continued to scurry away. Finn scowled, and started running after him- ignoring the senior citizen trees cries that he was running on their precious lawns. He didn't care about their lawns.

He needed his backpack back.

Finn ran as fast as his legs could take him, but it seemed like the little thief could move a lot faster. It threaded its way through the trees and into the fields of purple, turning around only to blow a raspberry at its pursuer. Finn fumed. "Come back here! Fight me like a _dog_!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the little thief came to a stop. Finn smiled. "Okay! Let's do this!" he yelled, as he launched himself into the air. As he sped through the air with his arms outstretched and ready to mangle, the thief looked up at him and smiled. Then, with Finns handy-dandy backpack still in tow, it took a step to the side. Finn frowned at this- and then he saw it. The thief was standing at the foot of a cliff... and now that it had stepped out of the way of him...

Finn suddenly found himself flying over the end, and down. As he fell, Finn took a deep breath.

"YOOOOOOUUUU JEEEEEEERRRRK!" he bellowed, as he fell.

The theif snickered to itself, and walked away.

As Finn fell, he could feel his entire life flash before his eyes. He could see the woods... and that cold feeling of being all alone. And then, warmth- as somebody picked him up and held him close. She took him into her home, and named him. He met his brother, Jake. His bestest friend in the world. He had dinner at a big table, with his new family. They were all yellow, and furry. And for some reason, he only seemed to be able to grow fur out of the top of his head- and it was a really weird fur, too. But his family loved him all the same.

Finn felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "Goodbye, you guys..." he muttered. "I hope... you'll all be happy..."

Suddenly, sparks of light began to invade his vision. The sparks exploded into swirls of color. Finn opened his eyes, as the wind whipped across his entire body. There was more color. Streams of gold, and blue, red, green and purple. All of them dancing around him.

Then- there was a flash.

* * *

Finn opened his eyes again, slowly. Everything was blurry. He frowned.

It was hot. That much he could tell right away. He wiped some of the beads of sweat out of his eyes, and watched it fizzle away into the air. Finn blinked, and looked around.

He was sitting on a small rock, surrounded by black dirt. Finn scratched his head. The black dirt seemed to be moving, and there were tiny cracks in it that seemed to glow red. Finn thought about this for a moment. "Hey... I've heard of this before... It's called 'molten lava', and it's supposed to be 'super dangerous'- right?" he asked. Finn looked around, and realised that there was nobody around to either confirm or deny his theory. He sighed.

He was all alone again...

He shook his head. This was no time to mope around. He had to find his handy-dandy backpack, and pull out his sword so he could hunt some gummi-bats for dinner. He nodded. With his mind made up, he carefully stuck his foot out of the side of the rock, and placed it on the black ground. He was wearing the special black shoes that his mom made for him. Finn smiled, as he tried to settle his foot on the ground. It was kinda squishy, but...

Finn frowned. Something was burning. He looked down at his foot.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed. He immediately withdrew his foot from the ground. The shoe had burst into flames, and even as Finn tried to stamp it against the rock to put it out- it just kept right on burning. Finally, in a move of total desperation- Finn licked his hands, as thoroughly as he could. Once they were drenched with enough saliva, he gulped- and put his hands on the fire. The fire seemed to disappear almost instantly. Unfortunately- now he had a new problem.

"My haaaands!" he squealed. He brought them up to his face. They were covered in burn marks and melted shoe materials. He winced, as he quickly gave both of his hands a series of 'I'm sorry' kisses. Once his hands had cooled down a bit, Finn laid back. "Aw... how am I gunna get outta here?" he moaned.

"You wanna get outta here, man?"

Finn jumped at the sound of a sleepy sounding voice. "Wha- where are you!? Show yourself!" he yelled.

"Yer layin' on me, little man."

Finn stiffened, and then glanced over the side of the rock. Sure enough, the was a small pair of eyeballs staring back at him. "Oh... hello... Sorry I wound up on your back and all..." mumbled Finn. The rock moved its entire body around. Although Finn didn't know it- this was the rocks way of shrugging.

"No worries, man. Happens way more often than you'd think..." it said. "So like I was sayin'... you wanna get outta here?"

Finn nodded. "Uh-huh... Could you, uh... give me a ride? That stuff really burns." he said. Again, the rock moved itself around, nearly shaking Finn off. This time, it was nodding. "Sure, man. That's what I do. I provide tours of these here lakes of magma." it explained. Finn let out a low whistle. Unbeknownst to the rock- this meant that he was impressed.

"That's cool. Maybe I'll come back after I've found somethin' to eat..." said Finn.

Suddenly, the rock began to move through the black ground, leaving a trail of glowing red stuff behind it. Finn huffed. Man... it was _really_ hot. His clothes were soaked with sweat already.

Finally, the rock swam over to the shore. A bunch of smooth looking yellow rocks. Finn jumped off of the rock, and onto the yellow rocks. Since his legs didn't immediately burst into flames- Finn guessed that _this_ stuff was okay to walk on. "Thanks again Mister Rock!" said Finn. The rock shrugged as it began to swim away. "Like I said, no problem, man. If you ever want a tour, just ask for Lava-Rock Turtle. Or Mister T. Whatever works." it said.

Finn waved goodbye, and then let his arms fall to his sides. "Wow... I'm thirsty..." he muttered. "And hungry... I wonder if there's a village around here..." he muttered to himself. As he walked into the forest of tree-shaped rocks with fire on it- and other stuff with fire on it, Finn found himself walking down what looked to be a well-used path. Eventually, he came across a big, fiery sign. Finn squinted. He hadn't fully grasped everything about 'reading' just yet- but after a few minutes of frowning, he managed to decipher it.

"Wel...come... to... the... Fire... King... dom..." Finn scratched his head. "Huh... I'm in some kinda kingdom now? That's cool, I guess. I hope they have food..."

Finn shrugged, and walked past the sign and down the road. Heading straight to the doors of the kingdom.

Unfortunately, Finn missed some important words written in fine print underneath the greeting sign.

It read; 'Non-Flame People will be brutally executed.'

* * *

Finn opened the big steel doorway to the castle without much problem. The lever to open it was on the outside. That seemed like a flaw on the builders part- but Finn wasn't there to offer critique to the door builders.

He was there to eat.

As he walked through the streets of the Fire Kingdom, he couldn't help but notice how empty it was. All of the houses seemed to be made of black stone- and as far as he could tell, none of them seemed to be housing any residents. The windows were boarded up, and the doors had massive padlocks on them.

Finn frowned.

The was something weird going on here...

As he continued down the streets, he heard a shrill scream in the distance. His hero instincts kicked in, and he raced toward the source or the noise. In the distance, he could see two people- both of them looked to be made out of fire- cowering by the side of a big looking building. One of them was bigger than the other- and from the pink frilly dresses they were wearing, Finn guessed that they were girls.

Standing in front of them, were two massive drops of water. Both of them were cackling loudly. The were both wearing leather jackets, and bandana's that had words on them. Finn considered reading the words, but he decided against it. He didn't have time to stop and think for ten minutes. He had to spring into action.

The water drops continued to laugh. "Hahahaha! What? Ya scared of a little water or somethin'?" asked one, as it whipped it body around, sending smaller drops of water flying towards the trembling flame-woman and flame-girl. They let out a small shriek, as the water came dangerously close to making contact with them. The water drops laughed again- this time even louder.

Finn felt an intense rage burning in his chest. He did not like bullies.

The second water drop gave the first water drop a slap on the back. "Dah-huh... Good one boss!" it announced. The first water boss scowled, and slapped the second on the back of the head. "Quiet, you!" it hissed.

"Daww... why ya gotta _hit, _boss?" asked the second water drop. The first one was about to roll its eyes, when it was interrupted by a foot to the face. The water drop exploded- leaving a puddle and a damp jacket and bandana on the ground. Finn, suck out his chest- looking victorious. "Back, villain!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the puddle began to rise up- taking the shape of the water drop once again. After hurriedly fitting itself back into its jacket and bandana- it scowled. "Who're you!?" it yelled.

Finn put his hands on his hips. "I... AM A _HERO_!" he bellowed.

The water drops glanced at each other, and burst into laughter. "Ha! You!? Your just a squirt! How old are you, anyway!?" yelled the first water drop. Finn looked a little disheartened, as he cleared his throat and answered in a small voice.

"I... I'm... _nine_..." he said, timidly.

The water drops burst into laughter once again. "Heh... aw, what a riot... alright, Bruno- You take care of the squirt, and I'll continue to harrass the innocent woman and child. 'Kay?" asked the first water drop. The second water drop shrugged, "Okay, boss..." he said.

The second water drop leered over Finn with a sadistic grin. "Alright, little kid... Just stand there and I'll... kill ya..." he said. Finn took a deep breath. 'What do heroes usually say... um... uh... Aw, Jake were here, he'd tell me!' Finn thought to himself. 'Oh- wait! I know!'

Finn took a long deep breath.

"NEEE-VEEEER!" he bellowed. As the second water drop grew closer, Finn grabbed it by the stomach- and pulled it to his mouth. "AH! What're you doin'!?" the second water drop yelled. Finn shrugged. "I'm thirsty." he said.

A look of horror fell over the second water drops eyes- and then disappeared, as Finn slurped him up in one big gulp. "Ah... refreshing!" he said. The first water drop seemed to notice that his companion had suddenly disappeared. The first water drop gulped. "N-now, now... Just... calm down. Look- Promise, I'll never harass flame people ever again!" he yelled.

Finn paused for a moment. "Really?"

"No! Wait! I mean-" but it was too late. The first water drop was picked up- and slurped up without delay. Finn let out a loud burp, and patted his distended stomach. "Aw, man. I needed that. Now I just gotta find some food..." he mused to himself. He glanced over at the flame-people. They were still trembling in each others arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No! Don't eat us! Please!" the flame-woman screamed. Finn blinked. "What? I'm not gunna..." he started. The flame-woman pulled out a small picnic basket she was carrying, and opened it up. She rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out a fire-burger. That is to say; a burger made of fire.

She threw it at Finn. "Here! Take it, and go!" she screamed. With that, she picked up her daughter and ran off.

Finn caught the burger, and glanced at it. So far- it wasn't burning his hands... He shrugged, and took a bite out of it.

"YAAAAAHHH!" he screamed, as fire burst out of his mouth. "That's _spicy_!" he yelled. After giving his mouth a few seconds to cool down, he took a second bite. "Hey- not as firey the second time. Of course- my mouth could just be in _shock_... Oh well!" he said. Finn finished his meal, and let out a hearty sigh.

Well, now his stomach was full. With both food _and _water. Now what?

"Oh, yeah! I gotta ask around and see if anybody's seen my handy-dandy backpack! And that jerky _thief_..." he mumbled.

And so, Finn roamed deeper into the Fire Kingdom.

His adventure had just begun.

* * *

_(AN: Thank you for reading the first chapter of my story. Please review! I really wanna know whether or not Finn seems like himself here. He is younger, so he's gonna be a little less mature, and a lot less sure of himself. Please also tell me if I use language for Finn that he doesn't usually use. Like; 'jerky', 'handy-dandy', 'adios', that sort of thing. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Until next time!)_


	2. Finn and a Giant Pretty Face

_Chapter Two: Finn and a Giant Pretty Face_

The King of the Waterdrop Kingdom, King Dearspring the Gushy; had begun to run out of patience. As he sat on his throne, tapping his fingers on the arm rest, he could feel his impatience turning into anger.

He had sent his two best fighters out to go harass some flame people. And they had yet to return. As far as the Waterdrop King knew, the flame-people had no way of defending themselves against his people. That's why it was so much fun to send people out to harass them every day. Hearing stories about the flame-people cowering in fear and crying had become the highlight of his day.

Finally, his impatience got the best of him, and the Waterdrop King stood himself up. "SEND SOMEBODY OUT TO FIND BRUNO AND NOLTE!" he bellowed. One of the smaller waterdrops nodded meekly, and rushed out of the throne room.

A few hours later, he returned with a grim look on his face.

"Sire?" he asked.

The King scowled. "What is it? Where are Bruno and Nolte?" he demanded. The smaller waterdrop looked down. "Well... I heard tell from some of the scared flame-vermin... that a strange creature had arrived in the Fire Kingdom, just as Bruno and Nolte had begun their daily bullying... and... well..." the smaller waterdrop trailed off.

"What happened!?" the King demanded.

The smaller waterdrop sighed, and pulled out a pair of jackets and bandanas from his knapsack. "Well... the creature... _guzzled_ them." he said.

The King Waterdrop stood up. "GUZZLED THEM!? DO YOU INTEND TO TELL ME THAT MY BEST FIGHTERS WERE GUZZLED BY SOME..._ CREATURE_!?" he bellowed.

The smaller waterdrop cleared its throat. "Um, well- there's more, sire." he said.

The King growled. "What is it?" he demanded.

"Well... this creature... the flame-people say that he wasn't a giant monster or anything. But just a small _child_." said the smaller waterdrop. The King rolled his eyes. "Oh please- and you believed such lies!? I want you to send the biggest, smelliest mercenary you can find into the Flame Kingdom- and tell him to find this _guzzler_, and strew his guts across the streets to prove a point!" he bellowed.

The smaller waterdrop nodded. "Yes, sire. Right away, sire." he said, as it quickly left the throne room.

The King scowled. Whoever this monster was, it had messed with the _wrong_ people.

* * *

Finn took a deep breath, and sighed. He hadn't had any luck yet in finding his handy-dandy backpack. So far, all of the flame-people he asked had either screamed and ran away, thrown sandwich in his face; or both. And Finn was starting to get really full right now.

As he made his way deeper into the Fire Kingdom, he noticed that gradually, even more flame-people seemed to be roaming the streets. These flame-people were taller than him, and they all seemed to be wearing trench coats and leather brim hats. They were also the first flame-people he had ever spoken too that didn't run away as soon as they saw him. They didn't throw food at him either, which was okay...

Well, maybe he felt a _little _disappointed. The flame-peoples food had started to grow on him- plus, he spit out fire every time he ate some. Which was really mathematical. And if it weren't for almost setting his hair and clothes on fire on several occasions, Finn might have considered living on a strict diet of fire from then on.

Of course- there wasn't any _sugar_ in fire. So that was _out_.

When Finn tried to ask the new trench coat, leather brimmed hat wearing flame-people if they had any clues on the whereabouts of his handy dandy backpack, most of them would scoff and walk away. But after following them for a few hours and asking the same question over and over again; the flame-person would finally relent. Then, it would tell Finn that he hadn't seen any handy-dandy _anythings_, nor had it run across any particularly_ jerky _theifs. The flame-person would then tell him to stop drooling so much, because he didn't have any food. And then- the flame-person would run off.

After this had happened over a dozen time, Finn had begun to form a theory.

Maybe the jerky theif had taken his handy-dandy backpack somewhere else. Probably somewhere less fiery. Finn sighed. He hadn't gotten any sleep in a while now. And his mommy had always told him that sleep was super important. Finn glanced around for a rock to sleep on- but unfortunately, it seemed like all of the rocks belonged to somebody. And no- they wouldn't let him sleep on them. So stop asking so much.

Finns feet were beginning to get really tired. Plus- one of them had been brutally charred a few hours earlier. So there was that to think about too.

Finally, Finn sat down in front of a tall building and yawned. His mommy had told him fairytales about special creatures called 'bums' that slept out in the streets. And if it was good enough for magical creatures that needed spare change to live; then it was good enough for Finn.

Being a 'bum' didn't take much effort. Actually, it mostly involved sitting on his butt. Maybe that was why they called them 'bums'. As Finn pondered this, he glanced up at the sky. The giant fiery sun was just beginning to set, and it was getting dark. Finn frowned. It still felt really hot. But a cool nights breeze had begun to wash over his face. Finn smiled. This was nice. It would be even nicer, of course; if he had his handy-dandy backpack. And maybe a nice little blankie. And some milk...

Eventually, his eye lids grew heavy- and before he knew it, he had finally fallen asleep.

* * *

The wind was blew his hood off, and his long blonde hair began to frolic freely in the wind as he picked up speed.

He was flying.

Finn watched the land rush past him in a blur, as he sped through the skies. "Waaaah-hahahaha!" he yelled, as he maneuvered his way past a group of surly balloons and a family of singing flying-fish. He giggled to himself, as he began to twist and turn in the air.

There was only one word he could think of to accurately express the happiness and freedom that seemed to be rushing through his very core.

"MAAAATH-EEEE-MAAATICAAAL!" he screamed.

"This is he best! Everybody's going to be sooo _jealous_!" he yelled. "'Cuz I can fly, aaand I don't know why. Oooh baby, I can fly- and I don't care whyyy, uh-huh,_ yeah_!"

Finn's new flying song- which had just entered it's beat-boxing portion- was suddenly interrupted, when Finn noticed that happy white clouds that he had been skimming against had begun to turn grey. And eventually; black.

Finn gulped, and looked down. The land was barren. All of the grass and dancing flowers had disappeared. Replaced by a long stretch of scorched dirt. And beyond that, stood a giant mountain. Finn blinked. Suddenly, the a massive stream of fire began to spew out of the top of the mountain, and into the clouds.

As the pillar of fire expanded, it slowly took the form of a giant fiery face. It had long elegant eye-lashes, and long fiery hair. The face looked young and... girly. The face opened it's mouth wide.

Finn shrieked, as he tried to stop himself. He tried putting his foot down on a brake that wasn't there. That didn't work. Then, he tried to claw at the black clouds. They yelled at him to quit it. Finn's fingers seems to go straight through them anyway. So it didn't matter. Finn whimpered, as he continued to shoot straight towards the fire-faces gaping mouth.

"NOOO! I'M GUNNA BE EATEN BY SOME KINDA GIANT, PRETTY FIRE-GIRL!" he screamed.

Suddenly, the fire-face closed its mouth, looking slightly embarrassed. "You... you think I'm pretty?" it asked.

Finn blinked. "Uh... what?"

And with that- he crashed into the face and exploded.

* * *

Finn opened his eyes with a start. "Aw, man... what a dream..." he mumbled.

He glanced around, secretly hoping to find himself in his old bunk-bed with Jake, so he could tell him all about his totally wacked-out nightmare.

Unfortunately- was was still sitting all alone in the streets of the Flame Kingdom. Finn groaned, and slowly stood himself up. The sun had just began to rise, and he was completely drenched in sweat. Finn licked his dry, chapped lips. His mouth felt like he had been gargling dirt again. And not healthy, _damp _dirt- either. Really _dry _dirt.

He sighed. He needed to find some more of those water thugs again. He looked around, but all he could see was snappily dressed flame-people on their way to work- most of them holding brief cases and reading newspapers as they walked. As he walked down the hot, sizzling streets, he couldn't help but notice that with a crowd of people made out of fire all bunch together like this- it made things a whole lot hotter.

After a few hours of walking around in the intense heat, Finn had begun to dry out. Everything began to get blurry and weird, as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Aww..." he grumbled. "I'm thirsty..."

Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of the street. He sighed. He didn't want to die here. At least; not untill he had become a hero. Finn frowned, as black circles began to invade his vision. The world wouldn't stop spinning...

Suddenly, he heard a scream. He snapped out of his delirium, and looked around. All of the flame-people were running away from something, screaming at the top of their lungs. Finn frowned. He was about to ask one of the more casual looking flame-people what was going on, when he felt a sudden blast of water smack him in the face. Finn was sent flying backwards, and quickly scurried back to his feet.

There, towering over him- was what looked like a massive hairy two-headed monkey. It was wearing thick, spiky armor- and one of it's arms appeared to have been replaced by a gun. The monkey grunted, and shot Finn in the face one more time with his arm-gun. A torrent of water sprayed out at an incredible speed. Finn stood up, and opened his mouth- as the water rushed into his face. It would have been cool and refreshing if it weren't for the water going up his nose, and in his eyes. Plus, it was travelling at a velocity that threatened to rip his skin to shreds.

And that wasn't good.

Still, it was water. And Finn was very grateful. "Hey, thanks- giant guy!" he yelled. The big monkey growled, and raised its tails. There were four of them, each one shaking around like a bunch of fuzzy tentacles. That was weird- but Finn didn't like to judge people by their appearances. So, he thanked the big monkey again, and was about to walk off when it stopped him.

"HEY!" it bellowed, shaking the streets with the sheer power of its voice. Finn turned to face him. "Yeah? What's up?" he asked. The big monkey growled. "ARE YOU THE CREATURE THAAAT GUZZLED BRUNO AND NOLTE!?" it bellowed. Finn scratched the back of his head. "Bruno and Nolte? No... those names don't ring a bell..." he muttered. The big monkey frowned, and rummaged around in the pockets of its armor for a while. Eventually, it pulled out a pair of bandanas and jackets. "ARE THESE FAMMILIAR!?" it demanded.

Finn snapped his fingers. "Aw, yeah! Yep. I guzzled those guys. They were real jerks." he said.

The big monkey growled. "SO- YOU THINK YOURSELF SOME KIND OF... _HERO_!?" it spat. Finn nodded. "Uh-huh. That's right. Hero." he said. The big monkey stomped it's massive feet and yelled angrily into the air. Finn was beginning to suspect that this big monkey wasn't the cool guy he thought it was. The big monkey turned a few dials on it's arm-gun, and growled.

"_HEROES _ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! THEY ARE _VILE _AND _DISGUSTING_. AND IF YOU ARE INDEED A _HERO_... THEN I MUST SCRUB YOU FROM THIS WORLD!" it yelled. Finn frowned. "But, heroes are the good guys..." he muttered. "How's that supposed to be vile and stuff?"

The big monkey scowled. "BECAUSE THEY ARE _HEROES_!" it hissed.

Finn frowned. "But, that doesn't really make sense..."

"NEVER MIND! PREPARE FOR SCRUBBING!"the big monkey bellowed. With that, it aimed its gun carefully at Finn, and fired. Finn stood there, and opened his mouth- ready for another nice stream of water. This time, the water narrowly missed his head, and hit the ground behind him with a massive 'boom!'. Finn turned around. There- where the water had hit- was a massive crater. Finn gulped.

"Uh-oh..." he muttered.

The big monkey fired again, and Finn managed to narrowly dodge it by jumping to the side. Soon, Finn was jumping from place to place as hard as he could, as every place he landed was quickly reduced to a crater just a millisecond after he jumped again. After a few long minutes of this, Finn began to formulate a plan.

It was a little complex- but he had no choice. Sometimes out in the field; you have to think outside the box. So, Finn launched himself in the air- and kicked one of the big monkeys heads with every once of strength he had. There was another loud 'bang!'. And the big monkeys second head- his second _favourite_ head, was ripped from his shoulders and sent flying off far into the air.

Finn stood up, triumphantly. "Ha! Now you only have _one _head- like a loser!" he yelled.

The big monkey scowled. Suddenly, and with a loud 'pop'- two shiny new heads popped out next to its scowling head. "I say- what's this then? It looks like we've grown some more 'eads, don't it?" asked one of the new heads. The other one nodded. "Uh-huh. Should we speak in unison with number one over there?" it asked. The first new head shook his head grimly. "That ain't as funny, innit?" it said.

The original head growled. "SHUT UP, YOU! AND YOU! HERO! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME PRODUCE TWO MORE HEADS! I WILL EAT YOUR GUTS FOR THAT!" it screamed. The new head looked appalled. "I say- how _barbarian_." it said.

The big monkey was about to shoot at Finn again, when it saw his foot approaching the two new heads at a remarkable speed. Before the original head could scream for him to stop- Finn kicked the two new heads off as well. The heads flew off into the distance, casually chatting with each other about the merits of tea time.

Finn stuck his chest out again, and looked triumphant again. "HA! Your beaten, now!" he yelled. The big monkey scowled, as with a loud 'pop!', four new heads sprouted out next to the original.

"Hey, dude- where's the pizza!?"

"Forget that, bro- I want _pizza_!"

"Don't give me that, man! The 'Zza is what we _cool _guys call it!"

"Cowabunga! I mean- _PIZZA_!"

The big monkey scowled, as his new heads began to argue over who liked pizza the most- and complain about how they were all wearing the same bandanas. They wanted different colored ones. It gave them 'individuality'. While the original head yelled at the others to stop arguing and making pop culture references, Finn tried to think about what the best course of action might be.

"I know! Maybe if I kick their heads off some more!" he yelled.

"NO!" the heads screamed in unison- but it was too late. In an instant, the four new heads were sent flying far away into the distance, and into a growing pile of newly decapitated heads. They began to make small talk together almost immediately. There was a lot to talk about when you're a decapitated head. Like how breezy it is without a neck. And wondering how much time it would take for their brains to finally shut down so they could feel deaths cold embrace.

Stuff like that.

There was another 'pop!' next to the big monkeys original head. And this one was bigger than all the others. And just like that- there were eight new heads all squished together next to the original. These new heads all appeared to have adopted a new and 'fresh' attitude on villainy. One of them had a stylish goatee, and another was wearing a monocle and a top hat. As they all practised their 'bad-guy' accents, most of them british, and began practicing their evil laughs, the original head growled. This had gone far enough.

Using one hand and a few of its tails, it grabbed one end of the line of heads, and the other. And then- it began to squish them all together. Finally, all of the heads formed into one massive and angry head.

"ENOUGH GAMES!" it bellowed. "YOU DIE NOW!"

Finn scoffed. "Ha! You can't beat me! I'm-" Finn was interrupted, when one of the big monkeys massive fists came down onto his head, crushing him into the road. The big monkey pulled its hand away, leaving Finn flattened- lying on his back. The big monkey put its arm-gun directly in front of Finns face, and grinned sadistically. The gun began to whir, and Finn could practically the energy building up inside.

Finn tried to move- but he couldn't. His everything was broken. And the last time he had broken his everything, it had taken a month and a whole bunch of ancient dog medicines to heal him. Finn gulped. This was it...

The big monkey snarled. "GOODBYE, TINY _HERO_!" it yelled.

Finn closed his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Slowly, Finn opened his eyes. The gun was still in his face- so he quickly shut his eyes again. After a few more seconds of nothing, he finally opened his eyes again, and glanced over at the big monkey. There was a massive red blade jutting out of his chest. From around the blade, the monkeys body began to turn black. Finally- his entire body fell into a pile of smoking ashes.

Finn squinted, as somebody in a brown cloak stood over him, holding the massive red sword in its hands. The sword disappeared in a puff of smoke. The person leant down, and took off its hood.

It was a flame-man. A tall one, with messy hair and a face covered in scars. The flame-man put his hand on Finns forehead. Finn flinched, expecting to feel a familiar searing heat.

It didn't come.

Finn looked up at the man, and blinked. The flame-man smiled. "Not to worry, kid. I'm here to help." he said. Finn smiled, and closed his eyes. Everything went black.

* * *

_To be continued..._

* * *

(AN: I wanna thank arauz1394 and Girlygirliscool for reviewing the first chapter so quickly. I'll probably keep updating once every few days- so keep an eye out! And again; if you have any questions- feel free to message me. Please read and review! It's very nice, and more that that- it's helpful!)


	3. Finn and Tobey

_Chapter Three: Finn and Tobey_

Finn opened his eyes, slowly. At first, it was kinda hard to see. Everything was all... _orange_, and blurry. As he sat himself off, the orange seemed to slide away.

Once he was up, his thoughts began to return to him, slowly. After a few minutes, he finally managed to remember who he was. And after that, he began to register where he was.

He was in a bathroom. He could tell because of the black sink with the pink toothbrush on it. Across from him was what looked like a shower- complete with a curtain that seemed to be made out of some kind of fire. And off in the corner of the room was a black toilet. Finn nodded and scratched his chin. 'Yep. That's what a bathroom looks like, alright.' he thought. There was a small cabinet over the sink with a mirror on it. Finn guessed that it was the medicine cabinet. He had one of those at home- but his mom and dad had told him never to touch it again, after he had opened it and eaten all of its contents for the third time.

Finns stomach rumbled just thinking about it. He briefly considered opening this new medicine cabinet for a quick snack- but he decided against it. That was when Finn finally noticed what he was sitting in.

It was a giant tub, made out of the same kind of black stone that everything seemed to be made out of in the Flame Kingdom. And it was filled with an odd orange goo. Finn moved around a bit. It kind of felt like wet bubblegum... As he began to play in the mysterious orange goo, he noticed that his hands were no longer covered in horrifying burns and shoe residue. Finn let out a low whistle of curiosity and slowly lifted his foot out of the goo.

It was completely clean. In fact- he couldn't even see it. Because his shoe was back on it, and no longer reduced to a bunch of black gunk strewn across his gruesome foot wounds. It looked as though he had never tried to walk on lava at all. In fact, all of his clothes seemed fresh and new again. And so did his skin.

Finn blinked. "Wow... cool goo..." he muttered. Finn carefully scooped up a handful of the goo, and brought it to his face. He stretched his tongue out very carefully, and gave the goo a big lick.

It tasted like orange juice.

He took a deep breath, and let himself slide deeper into the goo. Time seemed to slow to a stop as he felt a warm glow in his bones.

Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open and a tall person in a long brown cloak walked into the bathroom, carefully closing the door behind him. Then, he walked over to the sink. He pulled a small silver lever on the side of the sink. Suddenly, a stream of fire shot out of the spigot and into the sink. The person in the cloak gave a low grunt, as he cupped his hands underneath the spigot and let the fire pool in his hands. Once he had a nice, decent handful, he splashed it over his face and pushed the silver lever down again. The fire stopped in an instant.

As the cloaked figure turned around to leave, he noticed Finn sitting in the tub- staring at him. The cloaked figure carefully took down his hood, revealing his well-weathered face.

He was a flame-man. That much was made obvious by his healthy orange and red glow- and the fact that he was made out of fire. His face was covered in thousands of tiny scars, and two big ones that stretched over his eye- in the shape of an 'X'.

He took a deep breath, and smiled, wearily. "Ah. Awake, are you- boy?" he asked.

Finn nodded. "Yep. I sure am. Hey- do you know where I am?" he asked. The flame-man nodded. "Yes. You were fighting a particularly big and even more particularly smelly creature- and you seemed to be doing a good job in combating it, until it broke your everything." said the flame-man. "Luckily for you; something seemed to scare it off before it could end your life."

Finn frowned.

"Hey... Didn't you slay it or something? You know- with a mega-big sword?" he asked. The flame-man coughed nervously and shook his head. "Uh- no. Nope- I mean, no. Having your, uh, everything broken... It, uh- it must've like, made you see things and stuff." he said, doing his very best not to look sweaty and nervous.

Finn stared at the sweaty and nervous flame-man for a few seconds, and then he glanced at the goo he was sitting in. Finn frowned. "Hey... what is this stuff?" he asked.

The flame-man wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a loud 'whew!'.

"Well, I managed to scoop up your tattered remains and bring you over here; to my humble home. That stuff your sitting in is known as the 'Molten Rock of the Orange Springs'. It had legendary healing properties with non-flame people, and even greater so with regular people. I mean, _flame_-people." he explained.

Finn frowned. "So this stuff is like... lava? Then shouldn't I be dead now? Or at least- you know- writing in horrible pain?" he asked.

"This is a special kind of molten rock. Blessed by space-demons over a million years ago- ah, but you don't need a history lesson. The point is, that lava will only heat up again when the full moon hangs over it. It gets to about... oh, I don't know how you children measure heat nowadays... let's see... just a few notches below impossibly hot." said the flame-man.

Finn blinked. "Oh... Um, I wouldn't mind hearing that story..." he mumbled. "Also- this stuff tastes like orange juice."

The flame-man smiled. "Well, there are usually a few orange groves growing around the summit around this time of year..." he mused. "Oh- I just realized; I have yet to introduce myself. Please excuse me. My name is 'Tobey'. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he said, extending his hand.

"Wait..." said Finn, his eyes suddenly widening and sparkling. "You mean, 'Tobey', as in Mega-Pyro Warrior Tobey? Tobey- One of the greatest heroes in all of existence according to my 'Great Big Book O' Heroes'? _That _Tobey?" asked Finn.

Tobey coughed and shook his head, looking nervous. "Uh... nope! No relation! None at all! Why- I'm not even a hero!" he yelled, his eyes darting back and forth.

Finn did his best not to look disappointed, as he let out a loud disappointed sigh. "Aw, man... If you were, then maybe you could've given me some super-grade tips to bein' a hero and junk..." he muttered. "Oh, well..."

Tobey smiled, looking quite pleased that his clever little ruse seemed to have worked. "Okay, then. Boy? Would you like to have some breakfast?" he asked. "You have been submerged in the lava for quite a few days now."

As if it had heard the mention of the word 'breakfast', Finn's stomach gave a long growl. "Sure! Thanks a lot, Sir Tobey!" yelled Finn, as he made his way out of the tub in a hurry- and managed to slip and land flat on his face on the bathroom floor. Tobey smiled, as he helped Finn up to his feet. "Just 'Tobey' is fine. And might I ask- what is your name?" he asked.

"Oh! I'm sorry- It's Finn! Finn the human!" he yelled, puffing out his chest in his best 'hero' pose.

Tobey frowned. "_Human_... I see..." he muttered, as he and Finn made their way out of the bathroom.

* * *

The living room was very spacious, with a big red rug laid over the cold stone floor, and underneath a big and comfy looking sofa.

There was a single torch hanging from the ceiling, bathing the entire room in a dull orange glow.

A few feet behind the couch- was the kitchen. There was a big, angry-looking stove. A long counter beside it, a big cupboard, and a sink- completely filled with dirty dishes, and hairy insects. In front of that was a small black stone table, with a stone chair on either side.

As Finn looked around, he noticed a small shelf in the living room.

"Hey! Is that the urn that houses the ashes of Pan-Kee the Almighty Drunkard?" asked Finn, pointing to a small golden urn that seemed to be encrusted with jewels. It was sitting on the shelf, looking very important. As Finn took a few steps towards it, with his eyes all big and sparkly again, Tobey stopped him. He coughed, and shook his head.

"Uh, no! Of course not! No, that's... uh... Where I keep the foot powder!" Tobey stuttered.

Finn nodded. "Aw, yeah. You gotta have foot powder." he said.

Before Tobey could tell Finn how glad he was that he was so gullible, Finn noticed something shiny sitting next to the urn of 'foot powder'. "Hey! Is that half of the super-secret mega friendship ring that only the legendary Billy has the other half of?" asked Finn.

"No, that's just a bent up spoon. I keep the real one under my pillow- Uh, I mean... Why don't you take a seat?" asked Tobey, who seemed to have broken out in another nervous sweat.

Finn nodded, and took a seat in front of the table.

Tobey began to rummage through the kitchen cupboard for a while, eventually pulling out a can and glancing over at Finn. "Hey? Is canned screaming undead souls okay?" he asked.

Finn shrugged. "Sure, I mean- wait, what?"

Tobey produced a bowl, and tore the can open with his hands. He poured the contents into the bowl and walked over to the shelf and picked up the bent up spoon. He carefully bent the spoon back to its normal spoon shape, and then placed the bowl and the spoon on the table in front of Finn.

Finn slowly peered into the bowl.

There were thousands of ghostly faces all globbed up together- and screaming in terror.

Finn flinched. "Uh... this breakfast is freaking me out..." he muttered. Tobey frowned, and walked over to the bowl. "Come on guys; your freakin' the boy out..." he whispered. The undead souls seemed to contemplate this. After discussing what they could possibly do instead of screaming- which was kinda their thing- they turned to face Finn, and began to sing.

"Oh, boy! I love singin' stuff!" he yelled, as he scooped up a pile of the singing ghostly faces with his spoon, and put them into his mouth.

They were cold... but kinda sweet. Finn grinned, and immediately picked up the bowl- opened his mouth- and poured the souls inside, ignoring the souls claims that doing such a thing was a reflection of poor ettiquete- and for globs sake, wear a bib! Your getting us all over your nice clean shirt... and so on.

Finishing his breakfast with a big final slurp, Finn let out a deafening burp, and patted his stomach- looking satisfied.

"That was powerful tasty!" announced Finn. Tobey smiled. "Well, I'm glad you liked it.. It's a good thing I still had some non-fire food lying around, even if it _was _just baby food." he mused.

Finn frowned. "That... was baby food?" he asked.

Tobey nodded.

"But... I'm not a baby..." muttered Finn.

Tobey shrugged. "Oh, well. No harm done- correct?" he asked.

Finn looked a little conflicted, but he nodded nonetheless. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was on the shelf, next to where the bent up spoon used to be. A small framed picture.

Finn scratched his head. From across the room, he could make out the shapes of three flame-people in the picture. Two of them looked to be adults. A man- and from what Finn could gather from what looked like a very frilly costume, a woman. The third flame-person was a baby. Being gently cradled between the two adult flame-people.

"Hey... who's that?" asked Finn.

Tobey smiled, wearily. "Oh... my family." he said. Finn glanced around the room. "Really? You have a family? Where are they?" he asked. Tobey frowned. "Well... they aren't around anymore." he said.

Finn let out a quiet gasp. "O-oh..." he muttered. "A-are... they..." he trailed off, looking a little pale.

Tobey sighed. "Well... No..." he muttered. "But-... I'll never see them again." Tobey frowned, and shook his head. "Don't mind the sad stuff. Why don't we try to find a way to get you back home?" he asked.

Finn still looked a little shaken, but he decided to do what Tobey had asked- and not 'mind' it.

"I don't have a home anymore." said Finn. "I'm on a journey. All by myself. To become... a mighty hero!" he announced.

Tobey chuckled. "How sweet. Oh- to be young again..." he muttered. "But surely your not planning on roaming the kingdoms without a weapon? Or at the very least- some kind of handy-dandy backpack?" asked Tobey.

Finn pouted. "All my stuff got stolen on my third day out.." he grumbled.

Toby patted the boy on the head and laughed.

"Ah, yes... I remember my first heroes journey..." he said. Finn frowned. "I thought you said you weren't a hero..." he said. Tobey flinched. "Yep! That's right! I musta dreamt it!" he yelled. Tobey wiped some of the sweat off of his face, and looked at Finn. "How about we go out and get you some equipment?" asked Tobey. Finn looked up at him with big sparkling eyes- and then quickly shook it off.

"No! You can't! You've helped me out so much already." said Finn. He frowned, and thought for a moment. Suddenly- he got an idea. "I know! How about I wash your dishes? Mom always makes me do the dishes at home 'cuz Dad's always tired, and Jake's real lazy." he said.

"Oh, I don't know... There's a pretty powerful spirit of filth living in there..." said Toby.

Finn grinned. "It's no match for my might fists of flesh!" he yelled.

Tobey shrugged and smiled, as he watched Finn dive head first into the pile of dirty dishes, and immediately start wrestling the filth spirit.

This boy... This _human _boy... showed promise.

* * *

Finn and Toby walked down the streets of the Flame Kingdom, heading down to the Fire Mall- the hottest mall in history! Or at least- that was their motto. Actually, there was an even hotter mall in another kingdom a fair ways away. But people didn't talk about that mall.

When the finally passed through the big crystal doors and into the giant mall building, Finn let his mouth fall agape. It was massive. It looked like a massive, never-ending hallway- paved with pure white stone. In the walls there were rows and rows of shops, and more shops on top of them. The shops went all the way up to the ceiling. There were a few people trying to set up shops on the ceiling- but they kept falling down.

In the middle of the hallway there was a massive garden of roses, all of them made out of fire and crystal. And in the middle of the garden stood a giant golden statue of the Flame-King. It was easy to tell that it was the Flame-King, because he looked like a big fire with a pair of sinister looking eyes, a sinister looking mouth- and a big crown on his head. Plus- the words 'Flame-King' were inscribed on a plaque at the foot of the statue.

Tobey frowned at the statue, and quickly looked away from it. "Come along- Finn. Let's find you some equipment." he said.

"Aw, but Tobey- I told you, you've done to much for me already!" said Finn. "I only took care of the dishes to thank you for goo-ing me up!" he said. Tobey smiled. "Please, I insist. And you can let me carry the treasure chest if you are finding it too heavy." he said.

Finn was covered in grime, and teeth marks. And struggling with a giant wooden chest filled with extremely heavy treasure. He huffed, as he carried the chest on his back. "No- it's no problem, man. I can do this." he said, as he struggled to keep walking. Tobey shrugged. "Very well, then. Now- I should have enough savings to buy you a new backpack, will you promise to take better care of this one?" he asked.

Finn nodded, and grit his teeth as he struggled not to allow the chest to crush him. "Thank you so much, Tobey..." he said. "And I'm sorry you have to spend your savings..."

Tobey smiled. "Now, now. I believe that you may prove to be a worthy cause." he said.

Eventually, Finn and Tobey managed to find a big shop that seemed to specialize in the handiest of dandiest backpacks. As they walked in, they were both overwhelmed by the sheer size of the store. It looked to be bigger than four houses put together, and it was filled with aisles upon aisles of every kind of backpack Finn could ever dream of. And only about half of them were made out of fire. Tobey calmly took the treasure out of Finns hands, and told him to have a look around.

Finn wandered into the aisles, looking around, hopelessly. There were so many different kinds. There was a small brown backpack with rocket boosters in it, there was a small silver pack with three pink circles on it- through which giant metal spider legs could come out whenever the wearer wanted them too, and there was one that just looked like a giant teddy bear with megalomania.

And then, Finn noticed another weird looking bag. It looked like some kind of giant purple ball of lumpy fluff. It had a star on it's forehead, and it was talking into a cellphone- really loudly.

"And then- I was all like, glob this, Merrisa- okay? And she- she was totally screamin' loud, and then- like my lame parents showed up- and I was all like, we're goin' through some stuff, _mom_! Go away! And then, Merrisa picked up this, like, chainsaw sorta thing- And so, like- the party started getting really good after that! What'd you miss it for anyway? What!? With Brad!? I'll never forgive you! Hmph!" the purple creature yelled, before promptly closing the cellphone, and throwing it into its mouth.

"I can't- like- urgh..." the creature grumbled, as it chewed it's cellphone.

Finn approached it slowly. "Um... How much are you?" he asked. The creature looked at him, and blinked a few times. Finally, it swallowed it's phone, and put its hands on its... well-... hips?

"Like, what is that supposed to mean? Huh? Are you like- asking how much _money _I'm worth? That's _totally _shallow!" it yelled. Finn frowned, looking confused. "Huh? So- wait... Your not a backpack?" he asked. The creature scoffed. "Do I, like, _look _like a backpack?" it demanded. Finn shrugged. "Well, a little." he said.

"Well, I'm not. The backpacks are, like- on the shelf, you _glob_!" the creature growled. Finn blinked. "Really? But, so many of the other backpacks can talk and all- are you sure your not a bag?" he asked. The creature rolled its eyes. "Of course not! I'm a _princess_! Princess' are _not _bags! I mean- except for Bag Princess. Oh- and Handbag Princess. And Paperbag Princess. Oh, and I guess Basket Princess too- but I don't talk to her no more..." said the creature.

"Really? You're a princess? My mom and dad have told me stories about princess' before... But I've never met a real one!" exclaimed Finn. The creature puffed out its chest. "Yeah! Like, I'm the Lumpy Space Princess. My lame parents rule over all of Lumpy Space." she said.

"What's 'Lumpy Space'?" asked Finn. Lumpy Space Princess shrugged. "I dunno- It's like, you know- space? But, it's like, real lumpy." she explained. Finn nodded. "That sounds cool! Maybe I'll go over there some time during my big heroes journey!" he said. Lumpy Space Princess folded her arms across her chest, and frowned. "Yeah, yeah- whatever. Just, like- don't act like you know me or anything. 'Cuz you'll totally ruin my street cred." she huffed.

"I _don't _know you." said Finn. Lumpy Space Princess nodded, looking satisfied. "Good. Like that. Now, like- go away. I've got some important calls to make." she said, as she put her hand into her side- and pulled out a shiny new cellphone. Finn stopped her before she could so much as flip the phone open.

"Wait! Um, Lumpy Space Princess? Could you help me find a good adventuring backpack? You know... something super handy, and really, _really _dandy." asked Finn. Lumpy Space Princess huffed and rolled her eyes again. "Ugh, whatever. I'm like- an expert on bags anyway- so, like, follow me." she said.

Finn and Lumpy Space Princess walked around the place for a while, as Lumpy Space Princess pointed out the bags that seemed good, and the massive amount of bags that made her want to 'glob and hurl'. Eventually, Finn found one that made his eyes sparkle- as they tended to do whenever he got really excited.

It was an exact copy of his old handy-dandy backpack. A nice green number with straps. It stretched out good too. Perfect for adventuring. Finn picked it up, and gave it a big hug. Then, he glanced at Lumpy Space Princess. "Hey- LSP. Thanks for the help, man." he said. Lumpy Space Princess shrugged.

"Whatever..." she said. With that, she opened up her new phone and started talking into it immediately. "Hey, Ashley? It's me. Yeah. Uh-huh. NO! 'Lumpy-Space Princess', _glob_! Now- let's talk about you-know-what. Huh? Oh. Uh-huh. What!? Don't start with me- okay? I don't want to eat this phone, too- then I'll only have like five left! Yeah!" she said.

Finn shrugged, and gave her another small wave goodbye. Lumpy Space Princess ignored him, and continued talking loudly on her phone.

Finn rushed over to the counter with his new bag, and found Tobey on the way.

He was ecstatic.

* * *

It was night fall by the time Finn had managed to find everything he needed- mostly cans of beans, corn and a few cans of undead souls- and Finn had managed to tire himself out almost completely. So when Tobey offered to buy him dinner and let him stay overnight so he could leave in the morning, Finn couldn't resist. He swore that he would repay Tobey for his kindness some day, and Tobey laughed it off.

They made it back to Tobey's house under the light of the starry nights sky. Once they were inside, Tobey turned on the torch, and sat down in the couch. Finn dragged one of the stone table chairs over next to sofa, and sat on it. There was a small fireplace just in front of the couch, and after Tobey gave it a swift kick- it burst to life. Then, Tobey pulled out a small remote from between the couch cushions, aimed it at the fire- and pressed a small button.

The fire turned yellow. Tobey frowned, and pressed the button again. The fire went orange. Tobey huffed. "Reality shows..." he grumbled. Finally, the fire turned blue, and Tobey smiled. "That's more like it." he said. He glanced over at Finn. "Have you ever seen this show, Finn? It's a great cartoon." he said.

Finn scratched his head. "Uh... I don't really... um, hear it..." he said.

Tobey nodded, and turned up the volume. All of a sudden, the sound of a few gentle pops could be heard floating through the air. Tobey chuckled. "Aw, that was a good one- huh Finn?" he asked. Finn shrugged. "Uh... yeah. R-... real good..." he muttered.

After a few minutes of watching the blue fire dance around, and watching Tobey cackle to himself every now and again, there was a knock at the door. "Oh! That'll be dinner. I'll be right back. Tell me if anything really funny happens, okay?" asked Tobey, as he made his way off of the sofa and over to the doorway. Finn nodded, and looked back at the fire- looking more than a little confused.

Tobey came back from the doorway holding two silver bags. He took them over to the sofa, and opened them up. There were two small boxes with symbols on it, one in each bag. Tobey picked up both of the boxes, and weighed them in each hand. "Let's see, now... this one is super hot- and this one is... regular hot. Here you are, Finn. This is yours." he said, handing Finn one of the boxes. Tobey then picked up a pair of stone chopsticks, and a fork for Finn. Then, they opened their boxes.

Tobey's was a bunch of fire-noodles, all bunched together with a few pieces of deep-friend tofu, and ice-cat eyes. Tobey began to happily slurp at his meal between fits of laughter at the blue fire show.

Finn's meal contained a whole lot of rice and pieces of blue meat. There were also a few vegetables thrown in there. Glowing mushrooms, candy-cane striped carrots and some peas. Finn didn't bother asking Tobey what it was that he was about to eat- and got started right away. As the night progressed, Finn simply couldn't seem to understand what the blue fire show was about. It didn't even seem all that funny- Finn had only laughed three or four times. But- it was fine. In fact, it reminded him of home.

Finn frowned. 'How long has Tobey been doin' this all alone?' he wondered. Finn glanced up at the shelf. The picture of his family was flipped down on its face. Finn took a deep breath. He didn't like snoopin' around other people's biz'. But... curiosity was getting the best of him. Finally, when Tobey began flicking through the fire channels for something else to watch- Finn decided to ask.

"Hey... Tobey? Can I... Can I ask you something?" he asked.

Tobey sighed, and turned off the fire. "Did you finally figure it out, Finn? I knew it... I'm a terrible liar..." he muttered.

"What happened to your family, Tobey?" asked Finn.

Tobey flinched.

"I... I'm sorry, man. I was just- curious, 'cuz I'm a curious guy- y'know? But if it's too hard..." Finn trailed off. Tobey took a deep breath, and turned to face Finn. "Finn. We have known each other for just a day. Although you have been in my tub for a week or so-... In all honesty, I didn't think that it would be wise to trust one of your species..." Tobey said, looking a little ashamed.

"I'm sorry for that. We flame-people have had bad luck with non-flame people in the past, and we find it hard to trust you. And from what I've heard of humans... Well- nevertheless. My friends taught me better than that. My wife... taught me better." Tobey sighed again, and rubbed his forehead. "Okay, Finn. Before I tell you the story, I have to tell you something. Something that will surprise and amaze you. Are you ready?" he asked.

Finn nodded, slowly.

"Well... I lied before. I am 'Tobey the Mega-Pyro Warrior'." he said. Finn gasped. "What!? I don't believe it!" he exclaimed. Tobey nodded, grimly. "It is true. Here, I shall prove it to you..." he said.

Tobey got up off of the sofa, and walked into his bedroom. After rummaging around for a while, he came back holding the super-secret half-ring of friendship. The one that only Billy had the other half of. Finn stared at it for a while, with his mouth agape. There was no mistaking it. Finn had stared at its picture in the 'Big Book O Heroes' for hours. That was it.

Finn got up off the chair, and bowed. "It is an honour- great hero!" he yelled.

Tobey smiled, and patted Finn on the head. "Now, now. No need for that. Sit down." he said. Finn sat down, and Tobey sat back down on the sofa.

"Now... let me tell you... about my family." he said. Finn nodded.

"It was about twelve years ago, when I met her. The most beautiful flame-woman I had ever seen. She was a blacksmith. Every day I would go out and adventure, and pound my weapons into nothing- just to get the chance to talk to her. It was kinda hard, 'cuz she'd always be banging her hammer, trying to fix my weapons when I spoke."

"After a while, I finally managed to get up the courage to ask her out. And we went out on a small date over in the Ice Kingdom. Unfortunately- we got attacked by this ice wizard... I don't remember what he called himself- but he was a real jerk. Anyway, I managed to beat him up after he sent us into this giant maze of traps. That's when I found out that my cute blacksmith was actually an incredible fighter. I guess years of having to manipulate fire like that had an affect. Plus, swinging around that metal all the time was probably a boost. Anyway- she punched a hole in the giant ice-robot, I mentioned the ice-robot didn't I?"

"Anyway- after all that, I thought our date was ruined. But it turned out that she had the time of her life. And we went out adventuring together. She, was Felicity; The Grande Pyro-Sherrif."

Finn gaped at that, but he tried not to let his excitement get the better of him. So, after about ten seconds of excited squealing, Tobey was allowed to continue.

"Eventually, we were married. And a little while after that, we had a baby. A beautiful girl... And then..." Tobey winced. He took a deep breath, and went on.

"An old enemy of ours found us. Normally, we would have been more than enough for him- but... he took aim at our child. Felicity fell protecting her, and I found myself torn to shreds doing the same. He left- thinking us both dead, and leaving our baby screaming in a pool of her parents... well-..." he sighed.

Finn bit his lip, and tried to stop the faucets of tears that were streaming down his face. Unfortunately- he couldn't stop. He didn't make any noise, as Tobey continued.

"I was alone- with her. I patched myself up and ran. But my enemies soon heard the news that I had not only lost my greatest alley, but I was terribly wounded. And- I had a child, which had already proven to be what they would consider... a weakness. I fled back home, to find my house in ruin. I had lost all of my treasure- and my enemies were being drawn to the kingdom. Everyone in the kingdom was in terrible danger as long as I was around- and they new it. I had to leave. I know... that I should 'understand'. That their actions were for the best of the majority. But... I had been their hero for so many years... and my wife. And they shunned me... and kicked me out. And then- I had a visitor."

Tobey took a deep breath, and stared off into space.

"The King. I had known him since he was a mere prince. He was a cruel and twisted kid- always obsessed with evil. Of course, he was really more of a big jerk than 'evil'... but stil... Anyway- he told me something that I had always known. He had been in love with Felicity as well. All along. In his own twisted way- of course. But he had known her since childhood- and they had spent most of their youth teasing and bullying each other."

"I had heard it all before of course. Felicity had told me many times about her experiences with the arrogant flame-prince... Anyway- he approached me... with a deal. If I gave him... our baby... he would... protect... her..."

By now, Finn had fallen completely silent. The tears had stopped, and now he just felt a cold churning feeling in his guts.

"I had so many enemies... all of them targeting me, and her... So... I..." he trailed off, and grit his teeth. Tears were welling up in his eyes. He frowned. "I gave her away. And I ran. I tricked my enemies... into believing... that she was dead. And that it was only me left. And then- I ran away from the flame kingdom. I ran... and ran."

"Eventually, they all seemed to simply... forget. And not just my enemies- but everybody. The citizens of this kingdom, everyone, everywhere... all of them. And now, my daughter..." he sighed. "I told that wretched King- that if he ever did anything to hurt her- I would throttle him. Again. So I decided to come back to this kingdom, so that I might keep an ear out for my... well... Anyway- I have heard no news. I don't even know if she is alive... I cannot approach the kingdom- for fear of the news reaching the ears of my enemies. They have short attention spans, and bad memories- and I don't need anything stirring them up again. I'm not... strong enough, anymore..."

"Besides... I have no right... to see her. I am no more her father than the king is." said Tobey. "I... abandoned her... I don't care what excuse I had..."

Finn took off his hood, and stood up. "Tobey... Your a hero." he said, simply. "Now... Umm... My brains all globbed up... Can... Can you show me where I can sleep?" he asked. Tobey nodded, and stood up. He showed Finn to a small bedroom next to his room. The bed was fairly small- and made of stone. Tobey put a blanket over it, and Finn laid down. The said their goodnights, and Tobey left the room. He didn't tell Finn who that spare bedroom had been built for. Something told him that there had been enough sad stuff for one night.

Finn stared at the ceiling in silence.

'I wonder... why my parents... my human parents...' he thought to himself. Did they have a good reason, too? Finn frowned. He wanted to talk to his mom and dad. His dog ones. And most of all, he wanted to talk to Jake. But he couldn't do that.

He had run away, so that he could become a hero. And he couldn't come back until that happened.

Finn took a deep breath, and eventually he fell asleep. As everything began to fall into a dark haze, one last thought passed through his brain.

'I wonder... if Tobey's baby... is okay, now...'

* * *

The Flame King flinched. "Are you certain? This mysterious man who destroyed the great ape mercenary... He was seen again? Where?" he asked.

The messenger coughed. He was a flame-man himself, but even he couldn't help but sweat when he was in the presence of the King. "Yes, sir. Are the rumours true? Is that man truly... the old hero?" he asked. The Flame Kin snorted. "I hope not... but if so- I am going to need you to ready the Princess' torch." he said.

The messenger nodded. "Yes, yes of course. I will- wait, WHAT!?" he screamed.

The Flame King rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up. If the hero hears that I have kept her bottled for so long..." the Flame King muttered as he gingerly rubbed his throat. "Listen- do as I say! I have a plan..." he said.

The messenger gulped, and ran off.

The Flame King sat back in his chair, and sighed. "I wonder if I'll have to cancel bingo night with that Waterdrop fool and the others..." he pondered. "Eh- We'll see."

"We'll see."

* * *

_(AN: Yes, yes, I know what your saying 'Flame King doesn't play __**poker! **__What's the matter with you!? Just remember that this is an *AU* fic. So there'll be a few changes to the history- but I'll try to keep them as minimal as possible. Please read and review. It helps a lot, and it makes me happy. Until next time!)_


	4. Finn and Flambo

_Chapter Four: Finn and Flambo_

Finn frowned, squinted, and frowned some more. He had made it only a few steps out of the walls of the Fire Kingdom and into the Valley of Scorching before he had to stop and check the map that Tobey had given him.

It was a treasure map. An old 'beginners' level treasure map that Tobey had found underneath the sofa. Finn bit his bottom lip and groaned, as his eyes rolled across the various symbols and lines spread all across the map. He had never seen any of those symbols before- but then again, he had also never seen a real life treasure map, either.

Finn guessed that the giant red X in the middle of the map represented the location of the treasure- that much even he knew. But the rest of it was kinda... weird. There were pictures of serpents, skeletons, fire and fists scattered all over the place. There was also a bunch of tiny faces all over the place. And every one of them was winking at him. "Uuuh..." mumbled Finn. The tiny faces continued to wink. They seemed to be getting more aggressive about it as the seconds ticked by.

There was also a lot of symbols around the border of the map, and in a few different places on the map. The only one that looked even slightly recognizable to Finn was the one that looked like a plate of bacon and eggs. Finn guessed that it probably meant 'bacon and eggs'.

Or death.

Eventually, after Finn had spent quite some time frowning at the symbols- the winking faces finally lost their patience.

"Hey. Guy!" they yelled.

Finn blinked. "Uh... are you... talkin' to... uh, me?" he asked. The winking faces rolled the eye that wasn't constantly winking. "Of course we are! All rookie-maps come with us tutorial emoticons! What- you ain't never been in a library before?" asked the winking emoticons.

"What's a 'library'?" asked Finn.

The emoticons sighed, and winked. "Right, look guy- since you're a rookie and all, we guess we should tell you the secret to a truly grand adventure." they said. One of the winking faces huffed. "Hey! You guys don't speak for me, yo!" it yelled. None of the other emoticons seemed to pay any attention to the self-proclaimed 'individual'. The 'individual' sighed, and looked a little lonely as it winked its way over to the corner of the map and disappeared into a little house.

"Anyway- if your havin' problems with all this junk, just ask us! We'll give you some right proper answers." the emoticons said in unison.

"Well, okay..." mumbled Finn. "So, uh- What do these symbols mean?" he asked.

The emoticons sighed, and began to recite the meanings of every symbol- the bacon and eggs one meant 'beware of breakfast people' by the way. As they spoke, Finns mind began to wander. He had always had a short attention span, and it didn't help that the emoticons were speaking in such a bored, tired tone.

Suddenly, Finn heard a sound off in the distance. As the emoticons continued their lecture, Finn slowly moved his head to the side of the map to take a peek. The emoticons didn't seem to notice.

"I'm late! I'm late, I tells ya! Outta my way!"

Among the fire trees of the Valley of Scorching, Finn could see one of the flames moving around. It was small, and moving very quickly. As Finn tried to get a better look at it, he realised too late that whatever it was- it was heading straight for him.

"Whaddaya, deaf? Fine! I'm goin' over ya!"

Suddenly, the flame-creature pounced at Finn. Finn could feel it pass the side of his face, as it leapt through the air. Then, it kept moving- straight into the Fire Kingdom. "Huh... That guys sure was in a hurry..." he muttered.

"WAAAAH!"

Finn blinked, and looked at the map. It was on fire, the flames sprouting from a hole in the middle of the map. The flame-creature must have jumped straight through it. The emoticons screamed, as the map was quickly enveloped in flames. Finn dropped the map with a shriek. And within a few short seconds, the map was reduced to a pile of ashes.

Finn grit his teeth, and growled. He turned around just in time to see the flame-creature racing down the streets of the Fire Kingdom, and make a sharp turn and disappear behind a big stone building. Finn adjusted his backpack and took a deep breath.

"HEY! Get back here! You owe me a new treasure map!" yelled Finn, as ran down the street as fast as his legs could carry him. It wasn't long before he had to take the same sharp turn that the flame-creature had, and once he did that, he could just make out the image of the flame-creature running off in the he ran after it, Finn continued to yell. But if the flame-creature could hear Finn, then it was pretending not to.

The streets seemed to be fairly empty, as Finn made his way through. There were only a few obstacles to dodge as he ran. Like those two big flame-people who were carrying a massive pane of glass across the street- Finn managed to duck below that one. And then there was a few hotdog vendors sitting in the middle of the streets. Finn jumped over them as well as he could- although he did accidentally step on a sauce bottle, and consequently squirt hot sauce into one of the customers faces. Apparently hot sauce burns flame-peoples eyes too.

And finally, he passed through a big fire-person duel, and narrowly avoided being hit by flying comets and water balloons.

Eventually, he watched the flame-creature run into the center of the city. A giant lake of liquid magma, surrounded by massive jagged black rocks. There was a small dirt path stretching from one set of rocks, all the way to a massive fiery castle in the middle of the lake.

Finns eyes widened. His mother used to read to him every night. The story's were always about heros, knights, and princesses. And in every one of them, there was always a big picture of a giant castle that belonged to the royalty of the land.

This castle looked darker. The building seemed to have an ominous feeling all around it- but there was not mistaking it. This was definitely the castle of somebody _super _important. Either the Flame King, that Tobey had mentioned before... or some really rich guy who liked lava a whole bunch.

Finn took a deep breath. No matter what, he was going to get that flame-thing to pay him back for Tobey's treasure map. Finn nodded to himself. He was determined. Nothing could stop him now.

Finn raced down the dirt path. The door to the kingdom was a massive set of two black stone doors, with two giant stone rings near the middle acting as door handles. Finn grabbed one of them, and pulled.

And pulled.

Finn gave the door one last tug. It simply wouldn't budge. So maybe _one _thing could stop him now... Finn frowned, and tried again. And again. Finally, Finn collapsed in a sweaty heap. "This is impossible..." he groaned. Then- he noticed something on the bottom of the door. It was a tiny little flap- a doggy door. That must have been how the little flame-creature managed to get inside.

Finn wondered for a moment if it had been installed especially for the little flame-creature. He shrugged the though off, and smiled. It looked to be just big enough for a nine year old boy to squeeze through. And luckily enough- Finn _was _a nine year old boy.

Finn took off his backpack, and managed to squeeze through the doggy door with relative ease. And now- it was the difficult part. Finn stuck his arm out of the doggy door, and grabbed onto the backpack. It was almost twice his size- and it looked like it was too full of food to fit through the small flap. Nevertheless, Finn didn't give up. He pulled on one of the straps with everything he had. And pulled, and pulled some more.

Finally, with one last tug- and a loud 'pop!', the backpack came flying through the doggy door, and hit Finn in the face- sending him rolling down the hallway. Both he and his back back quickly found themselves rolling down a flight of stairs, before finally stopping in a heap- after crashing into a wall.

Finn grumbled to himself, as he stood up- and put his backpack back on. Then, he continued his search for the little flame creature.

* * *

The flame-creature bowed deeply before his King. "Sorry, sire- I meant ta get here quicker- but my alarm clock went an' melted." he said.

The Flame King frowned. "Is that, so- Flambo?" he asked.

Flambo nodded. "Yah-huh."

The Flame King ignored the little flambit, and gestured to a tiny flame-person standing on a platform high up, close to the ceiling. The flame-person nodded, and slowly turned the crank, moving a big roll of chains as he did so.

Slowly, a big glowing torch made its decent from the middle of the ceiling, attached to a line of chains. Eventually, it landed gently between Flambo and the Flame King. Inside the torch was a little flame-girl. She had her fiery red hair tied into a ponytail with a long white ribbon, and she was wearing a long, dark orange dress that seemed to suit her light orange skin. The dress had a big red jewl in the middle of the chest. The tiara she was wearing had a similar jewel on it, although much smaller.

"Heys, there- Princess." said Flambo with a friendly wave.

The Princess' eyes brightened when she saw Flambo. She flashed him a bright smile, but noticed that her father was watching, so she quickly twisted it into a scowl, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do not act so familiar, _Flambit_!" she growled.

The Flame King snorted in agreement, and glared down at Flambo.

Flambo was a small cat-like flame creature. He preferred to run on all fours, and he had a tail with a tuft of flame on the end. Flambo was completely unfazed by the scowling of the royal family, as he casually checked his nails. He didn't have any nails- but he blew on the tip of his paw and rubbed it against his chest as if he did.

"So- why the sudden mornin' meeting, Sire?" he asked.

The Flame King frowned, but decided to leave the issue alone. For now. "Yes. I have a mission for you, Flambo. A quest; if you will." he said.

Flambo blinked. "Aw- really? Why me?" he asked. The King growled. "You are the Princess' advisor, are you not!?" he yelled. Flambo shrugged. "Sure, I guess..." he mumbled.

The Flame King lifted his hand into the air, and clicked his fingers. There was a burst of flame in the air- quickly replaced by a giant evil looking book. It looked as if the cover ere made out of rusted metal, and covered in dozens of big red eyes.

The Flame King opened the book, and searched for the right page. Once he had it, he threw the book at Flambo. It bounced off of his head with a loud 'bang!'. The Flame King chuckled to himself as Flambo picked up the book, trying not to whimper too loudly at the pain that was pulsing out from his head.

Flame Princess let out a small gasp, but did her best not to look too concerned with the little flambit. So she tightened her frown, and stayed silent. But- she still felt a tiny pang of guilt in her heart. She quickly choked it down, though. She had to be evil. And evil people didn't ever care about anybody but themselves. She nodded to herself, and grit her teeth.

The book had landed, sprawled on the ground- and still open to the page the King had opened it too. Flambo picked it up, and glanced at it. "This the right page?" asked Flambo, turning the book to face the Flame King nodded, and Flambo turned it back around to read. The page looked to be a set of instructions on how to find something called... "The 'Tiara of Ultima?'" asked Flambo.

The Flame King nodded. "Yes. I believe that it is time the princess was subjected to her first test for the honour of being _true _royalty." he said. Flambo raised an eyebrow. "Whatchya mean? Isn't she a little too young, still?" he asked. The Flame King ignored him, and cleared his throat.

"You shall accompany the princess on a journey to retrieve the Tiara of Ultima- the ultimate sign on one's royal status." said the Flame King. Flambo's eyes widened at this. "Wait- you want me and the princess to go off, outta the kingdoms walls?" he asked, with a surprised look on his face. Flame Princess shared the very same look.

"Princess!" the Flame King bellowed. Flame Princess jumped at the sound of her fathers booming voice, and quickly straightened herself up. She turned to face him. The King stared at her with a stern face. He frowned. "I am granting you a temporary release, so that you may find the Tiara of Ultima. Should you return with it successfully, I shall release you from the torch- forever. Understood!?" he asked.

Flame Princess nodded, quietly.

The Flame King rose his hand into the air, and produced a small red ball of fire in his palm. He brought the ball of fire to his mouth, and whispered "Unlock". Then, he threw the ball of fire at the torch. In an instant, the clear crystal that the Flame Princess was standing in was enveloped in a warm red glow. Slowly, the crystal opened in the center.

Flame Princess took her first steps into the world outside the torch for the first time in as long as she could remember, and-

Suddenly, the was a loud 'bang!'. The doors to the throne room burst open, and there- standing at the entrance, was a boy. He was wearing a blue shirt, and a set of black shorts that matched his shoes. He was also wearing some kind of white hood- or hat, or something- that had little bumps poking out of the top. He was carrying a big, heavy looking backpack- and he looked tired and sweaty.

The boy and the Flame Princess locked eyes for a moment. The blinked at each other. Then, his eyes moved over to Flambo. "THERE YOU ARE!" he yelled. Flambo blinked. "Aw- Are you that dumb kid what was followin' me? What do yous want?" he asked.

The boy growled. "My map! You totally globbed up my treasure map!" he yelled.

The King raised an eyebrow. "Is this true, Flambo?" he asked.

Flambo nodded. "Yah-huh. Sure is." he said. "Good one." The King said, with an evil smile.

Before Flambo got the chance to agree, the boy tackled him to the ground. They rolled around for a while, as Finn grabbed Flambo and growled. "That thing was super important, man!" he yelled "I can't go on an incredible journey without that map!". Flambo opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, and then bit down into the boys hand as hard as he could.

There was a moment of silence. Then-

"HYAAAAAAH!" the boy screamed, as he began rolling around, flailing his hand around in an attempt to shake Flambo loose. Flambo kept as tight a grip as he could. After a few minutes of screaming and flailing, Flambo finally cam loose- and was sent flying through the air, and into the wall. Flame Princess gasped, as the boy approached Flambo, looking very angry. The boy cracked his knuckles- letting out a soft squeal as he did. Apparently, he had already forgotten about the bite wound around his hand.

Flambo gulped, as the boy stood over him.

"Leave... him... alone."

The boy blinked, and turned to face the Flame Princess. "Huh? Did you need something?" he asked. Flambo quickly ran off. He could tell that something bad was about to go down. He recognised the look in the Flame Princess' eyes.

"I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she bellowed, causing the entire castle to quake under her fury. Her eyes were flowing with a bright, angry red. Her fire began to burn for fiercely, as the flames came to a point. He entire body was suddenly covered in fire, as she let low growl. Flame Princess put her hands out in front of her. She gave an angry shriek, as a stream of red flames burst out of her hands, and enveloped the boy.

Flambo and the King watch in awe. All that time spent sealed away in the torch had done nothing to quell the intense power she had bubbling inside of her. If anything; it looked like she had gotten _more _powerful. The thought sent a chill down the Flame Kings back.

Eventually, the flame dissipated, and the Flame Princess began to recede into her normal form. Then, everybody in the room gasped.

The boy was still standing there- completely fine, and not reduced to a pile of ashes at all. He was covered in a bright blue glow, and there were dozens of complicated looking runes hovering all around him.

The King flinched. He recognised those symbols... There was no mistaking it. They were cast by Tobey the Pyro warrior. They were all resonating with the same familiar power. The King grit his teeth. He didn't know what frightened him more. This confirmation that the Pyro-Warrior was indeed still alive, or the fact that the princess had hit the spell with enough power to make it _materialise_. That meant that she had gotten close to actually breaking through a flame-shield spell cast by the _Pyro-Warrior_. That spell was resonating with enough power to be considered the most powerful flame-shield spell in all of existence. And she had almost _shattered _it.

The King gulped. While the boy appeared to be distracted in trying to figure out what had just happened- as well as staring at the floating runes, the King tried to think about what he should do next.

"You are looking for a journey, flesh-creature?" asked the King.

The boy blinked, and nodded.

The Flame King considered this for a moment. 'I see... perhaps... Tobey sent this child... as a spy?' he thought to himself. 'Certainly, the boy appears to have developed an excellent facade of stupidity... yes... If it were anybody less intelligent than myself- they might have fallen for it...'

As the Flame King thought, the boy began picking his nose absent mindedly.

The King frowned. 'This boy is _diabolical_. If I do not tread lightly, this child may very well bring about the end of the entire kingdom- or worse, my reign as king.' he thought to himself. 'I suppose I shall play along...'

With that, the Flame King began to formulate a plan.

"Okay, child. Tell me. What is your name?" asked the Flame King. The boy took his finger out of his nose, and shrugged. "It's Finn. Who're you?" he asked. The Flame King frowned. 'You will not rattle me so easily you vile _wretch_' he thought to himself. "I, am King of the Fire Kingdom! The Flame King!" he bellowed.

"The flambit with whom you have your _issues_, is named Flambo. He is one of my minions. I mean... uh-... no, I guess _'_minion' is the right word. And next to him is my daughter, the Flame Princess." he explained.

Finn blinked. "Wow... a king!? Cool! Do you have a legion of warriors who obey your every command?" he asked. The Flame King chuckled. "Yes. Yes I do. An awesome one." he said.

Finn's eyes began to sparkle, and the Flame King cleared his throat. "Tell me, boy- you appear quite adept. How would you feel about going out and taking a nice journey?" he asked.

"Is it kinda like a quest?" asked Finn.

The Flame King nodded.

"Then, of course!" yelled Finn. The Flame King smiled, evilly. "Excellent. Well then, Princess. It seems you shall have a new travelling companion." he said.

"WHAT!?" Flame Princess yelled. "But... this boy is obviously _totally _stupid!"

The Flame King began to burn a little hotter. "Do _not _resist my order, Princess." he hissed. "Or you shall be sent back to the torch until you reach marrying age."

Flame Princess pouted, and sent Finn a withering glare. But, she didn't do anything else. "Aw, wow- thanks, Flame King! You know, your not as bad as Tobey said." said Finn.

The Flame King froze at the mention of that name- and scowled. 'That was a cheap shot, _boy_' he thought.

"Hand-maiden!" the Flame King yelled. Suddenly, a tall flame-woman wearing a puffy maids outfit walked into the room- as if she had been waiting outside the entire time, waiting to be called upon. The handmaiden bowed deeply to her King. "Yes, sire." she said.

"Escort the Princess and... _Finn_ to the equipment so that they may prepare for the journey ahead of them. Flambo- you stay here. I wish to speak to you." said the King.

The handmaiden nodded, and ushered the children out of the throne room. The Flame Princess and Finn didn't speak to each other as they left. Flame Princess because she was determined not to speak to somebody so... _stupid_. And Finn, because he was busy thinking about something- as the flame-shield spell that surrounded him began to fade back into invisibility.

Once the doors to the throne room were closed, Flambo and the King were all King cleared his throat. "Now- I'm going to tell you-" he started, only to be cut off.

"That Tiara of Ultima- it ain't no sign of royalty, is it? It's just another thing you wanna try and use to put a lid on the Princess' power- huh?" asked Flambo. The King frowned, and shook his head. "No- what I said was the truth. But only half of it. It is as you said- the Tiara of Ultima is one of the last artifacts we may use to quell the Princess' power. But it is in fact also a sign of royalty. One of the most important ones in all of Ooo." the King explained.

"Huh... I get it, I guess. But what about the kid?" asked Flambo. "Where's he fit into this?"

The King scowled. "Do not worry about him. Just keep a close eye on him until you are far away from the Fire Kingdom. Then- I want you and the Princess to abandon him. Let the boy die alone somewhere." he said.

Flambo shrugged. "Okay, boss. Now can you let me get over to the kitchen room? I skipped breakfast." he said.

The King sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "Fine. Whatever. Leave." he said.

And with that, the Flame King was left alone with his thoughts. At least- he _thought _he was alone.

* * *

Finn was standing alone in the hallway, lost in thought. He adjusted his backpack, and sighed. 'So, I guess... Since she's the princess and all... She must be Toby's little baby- but grown up a bunch?' he thought. 'She's a little a little scary, I guess... But she's still a princess. If I wanna be a hero- I gotta protect her, no matter what.'

Finn nodded to himself. Then, he noticed a familiar looking flame-creature making his way down the hallway. Finn frowned. "So I gotta journey with this guy, huh?" he grumbled to himself.

As Flambo approached, Finn opened his mouth to say something- but Flambo beat him to it. "Hey, kid- What's your deal?" he asked.

"My _deal_?" asked Finn.

"Yeah, kid- your deal. How'd ya all of a sudden get the ol' boss ta getchya ta come along? And why do ya _want _to?" asked Flambo. Finn blinked at the sudden onslaught of questions- and decided that he could only really answer the last one. "Well, 'cuz I want to go out and adventure around and junk. Plus, maybe it'll be awesome training to become a hero!" said Finn.

Flambo chuckled to himself. "A hero? Yous just a lil' ember, ain't ya?" he asked. Finn scowled, and was going to yell at Flambo that he was grown up enough- and then challenge him to a wrestling match. But, once again- Flambo beat him to it. "Eh- I guess yous bein' a hero ain't too insane. I mean- yous already a human, and that's supposed to be impossible. You know- on account of 'em all bein' extinct and all." he said.

"I... I'm pretty sure that I'm the last one..." mumbled Finn.

"Huh... Well- that's a shame, I guess. Hey, listen- It's Finn, ain't it? Look- Yous can't tell no-one about yous bein' a hero. Or- y'know, a wannabe. People round here really hate heroes. 'Specially the Princess. But most of all..." Flambo glanced around him to make sure that there was no one else around. "If yous really do end up travelling with us... Well- Look, I know ya've met with Tobey. That flame-shield yous is wearin' has his signature all over it. And yous is probably the kinda chump that the ol' guy likes. Look- he don't want the Flame Princess ta know about 'im. Okay? So don't be a jerk. Gets it?" he asked

"But... why? I mean, it didn't look like Tobey was in danger any more- so it's not like he'll put her in danger or anything..." said Finn.

Flambo sighed. "Listen, kid. Yous probably want to see some kinda big family reunion- right? Well it ain't gunna go down like that. Just trust me- ol' Tobey has reasons beyond his enemies for never comin' in ta see her." he said.

Finn frowned. In the end, he didn't want to be too nosy- this was their family biz'. And he was supposed to leave other people's family biz' alone. At least- that's what he had learnt from those radio drama's that his mother kept listening too. Finn finally nodded. He didn't want to do anything that might upset Tobey, either. So he didn't have a choise.

He wouldn't say a thing.

Flambo smiled. "Alright then- Now whats say we go get some eats? I'll buy ya a nice piece o' coal ta apologise for the map burnin'. Sound good?" he asked. Finn shook his head. "No, Jake made coal for lunch one time... It's real barfy." he said.

Flambo rolled his eyes. "Aw, great- we got one o' those 'coin-a-sirs' over 'ere..." he grumbed. Finn and Flambo made there way down to the kitchen, as they discussed the fine intricacies of flame-people food.

* * *

Flame Princess could feel her heart beating a mile a minute. Her flames were starting to fluctuate in temperature, going from pleasantly warm- to melting the chandelier on the ceiling. As she casually dodged the pieces of melted gold and glass that were falling from the remains of the chandelier, she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down.

She had never seen anything outside of her kingdom before. She had never felt so excited. Of course, she wasn't very happy about travelling with the gross fleshy-boy, but she comforted herself in the knowledge that he'd probably get killed by a monster or something on the first day. Then; it would just be her and Flambo.

Flame Princess sighed. A big part of her was confused by her own excitement. She had never really wanted to leave the Fire Kingdom as far as she could remember- and it wasn't like she was ever really lonely in the lamp. She always had her father around, and she had Flambo. Occasionally she would get visits from teachers from all around Ooo for studies, and sometimes there might be a court jester or two.

She could eat and exercise right there in the lamp. There was even a bathroom built into it. It appeared whenever you shut the curtains and said the magic words.

But now; she was out of the lamp. She took a deep breath, and pinched herself.

It wasn't a dream.

"Princess, is this enough clothes and armor for you, dear?" asked the Handmaiden, as she continued to pack the Flame Princess' suitcase. Flame Princess nodded. "Sure. That should be enough, thank you." she said. The Handmaiden smiled. "Oh, good! Then there'll be enough room for all of your homework, then!" said the Handmaiden.

Flame Princess flinched. "Um... homework?" she asked, failing to keep the sheer dread out of her tone.

The Handmaiden nodded happily, as she began to stuff a massive pile of books into the suit case, along with a bunch of fire-proof paper and a few pencils.

"Aw, _math_..." mumbled the Princess.

"Oh! Thank you for reminding me!" said the Handmaiden, as she left to retrieve the biggest textbook of them all.

Flame Princess groaned.

'Maybe there's a dark cloud in this silver lining...' she thought to herself.

* * *

"And so, I says to that wolf- I says, hey! If yous wanna get together- just invite her to go out and boogie! 'Cuz everyone knows if there's anythin' skirts really like, it's boogie-ing. Yous know? Anyway- you know what he did? This wolf- he was up to her, brought 'is paw to his nose and-"

As Flambo finished his story, Finn burst into laughter as he ate his special flame-people's ice-cream. It was a ball of weird red goo, that wasn't hot or cold. But it was super creamy- and that was all Finn really cared about. As he finished his icecream, he made a note to himself to have Jake try it sometime. He really loved ice-cream...

Finn and Flambo were sitting at the royal table, in the royal dining room. The kitchen staff seemed to know Flambo very well, and it didn't take much to get them to whip up a quick bowl of coal for Flambo- and the aforementioned ice-cream in a bowl for Finn. Finn had just finished his first bowl when somebody approached, and gave him another bowl. Finn grinned, and dug in as Flambo practised throwing pieces of coal into the air- and catching them with his tongue.

"So, uh- when do you think the Princess is gunna be ready, Flambo? It's been a while- and I wanna set out as soon as possible!" said Finn. Flambo caught another piece of coal in his mouth, and chewed it for a while before he responded. "Well- you know how dames is, she might be another hour or so as far as I know." he said. Upon seeing Finns horrified face, Flambo chuckled. "Now- now, don't be gettin' into a huff. I tells ya what- how abouts you just grab an extra dessert for the Princess, and we'll go out an see her." he said.

Finn smiled, and nodded. "Okay. Hey- can I get another-" Finn was cut off, as one of the butlers seemed to materialise out of nowhere, holding a special bowl of flame-people ice-cream. Finn gave the butler a nervous thanks, as he picked up the bowl, and put a clean spoon into it. He sat up, as Flambo poured the last of the charcoal into his mouth, and jumped off of the seat himself.

Together, Finn and Flambo walked out of the royal dining room, and into the royal hallway. "Hey, Flambo- who're all of these pictures of?" asked Finn, gesturing to the portraits that were lined all across the walls.

"Aw, wells- that guy there? He was the first ever King of our kingdom. He created the whole deal, actually. King Flare." said Flambo.

"Huh... they all look like the Flame King I just met..." said Finn.

Flambo shook his head. "Nope! If you'll notice, King Flare has a real tiny moustache. And his only son- King Scorchie- He had a full beard. Oh! And his kids wore sunglasses all the time. Anyway- it goes down a few hundred generations- and then it reached Flame Princess at the very end." he explained.

Finn scratched his head. "Oh... okay." he muttered, as he stared at one of the portraits that appeared to be another copy of the Flame-King, only this one was wearing a top hat and a monocle. "Hey, where abouts can we find Flame Princess, anyway?" asked Finn.

No sooner had he asked that- than Finn and Flambo noticed the Flame Princess making her way into an elevator. They raced over- just as the doors slammed shut. They groaned. "Right- she's probably headin' off to the top floor. What do ya say we race up there and see who can meet 'er by the entrance first?" asked Flambo.

Finn thought about it for a moment, shrugged and smiled. "Alright, your on!" he yelled.

With that, Flambo and Finn raced up the stairs- going as fast as they could. Unfortunately, Finn had forgotten a few things. He was still wearing a giant backpack that was filled with heavy canned food- and he still had to keep a good hold on the Flame Princess' bowl of ice-cream, and be careful not to spill any of it.

By the time they finally reached the ground floor, neither or them were running as quickly as they were when they started. Still, they ran over to the entrance- and Flambo crossed the finish line. "YES! POINT ONE TO MEEE!" he yelled, as they passed through the open entrance doors.

Flame Princess was standing there with her hands on her hips, and a big suitcase by her side. "There you are. You have kept your princess waiting for almost... five seconds!" she said with a scowl. Flambo ignored it. "Hey- shouldn't you say a quick goodbye to yer ol' man, before we head out?" he asked.

"He... he refused... he just told me to... to go." she muttered. Her flames began to dull in color, as she bit her lip. She looked upset.

Flambo grit his teeth, and stood up on two legs so that he could cross his arms over his chest. He shook his head, and glanced over at Finn. He gestured at the bowl of icecream he was holding. It took Finn a moment to realise what Flambo wanted him to do.

Finn cleared his throat. "Here you are, Princess." he said, as he handed her the bowl of flame-people ice-cream. Flame Princess brightened again in an instant. "Wow! My favourite!" she yelled. Flame Princess quickly snatched the bowl out fo Finns hands, and began eating the ice-cream in a blur. Only a few short seconds had passed, before she was all finished, and threw the spoon and the bowl into the lake of magma beside her. She wiped her mouth, and looked a little embarrassed under Finns curious stare.

"Alright! We must now embark! You! Flesh-creature!" yelled the Flame Princess.

"Um... it's _Finn_".

"Quiet! Now, you get the honour of carrying my bag as we make our journey!" she announced.

Finn frowned. "What!? I can't do that! I'm already carrying all of my stuff!" he yelled. Flambo smiled, mischievously. "Oh, but I can't do it- Finn. And our beautiful Princess is far too _precious_ to carry this bag, ya see?! Youse is the only one left!" he said. Finn grumbled to himself, and picked up the suitcase. "Fine! It's not too heavy, I- AAAH! This junk is _heavy_!" he yelled.

"Do not call my stuff junk! It is a collection of my favourite clothes and armor! Plus- my uh... homework..." she grumbled.

Finn frowned, and closed his eyes. 'Just think of it as strength training...' he told himself. Finn took a deep breath, and picked up the suitcase one more time. "A... alright! I got it! Let's hurry!" yelled Finn, as he ran ahead. "Aw- wait, Finn! We gotta check the map!" yelled Flambo, as he produced a few pages from a magic book- that he had seemingly pulled out of thin air. Flame Princess grumbled, as she ran to catch up.

The three of them were taking their first steps outside- into their new journey.

* * *

Far away from the Fire Kingdom, there stood another kingdom. One made of, and inhabited by, nothing but candy. It was called, funnily, enough- the Candy Kingdom.

Within the borders of the Candy Kingdom, there were hundreds of inhabitants of all shapes and sizes. Some of them were as old as time itself- and a few of them were only a few days old. Out of all of the candy-people, none of them were more important than the princess of the kingdom; Princess Bubblegum.

She was one of the most famous and well-respected princess' in all of Ooo. She had made hundreds of scientific achievements, and she had an endless amount of certificates and medals that she kept in a small locker in her lab- all piled on top of one another.

At the very same moment that Finn, Flambo and the Flame Princess were leaving the Fire Kingdom, Princess Bubblegum was in her lab- experimenting with a wide variety of chemicals in order to create both a hair growth formula- and a hair loss formula. She had been testing both of these chemicals on Cinnamon Bun- a giant Cinnamon Bun. So far- all of the chemicals she was producing only seemed to either blow him up- or set him on fire. As Bubblegum continued with her work, she couldn't help but let her mind start to wander during some of the more tedios calculations.

She sighed. She hadn't seen her best friend in almost two weeks now. Lady Rainicorn had gone on a luxary cruise with some friend of hers, leaving Bubblegum all alone in her lab. This wasn't always a bad thing- in fact it usually meant that she got a whole lot more work done. But, Lady Rainicorn was always the only person who could pry her out of the lab to get some sleep- or at the very least, take a breath of fresh air.

Princess Bubblegum sighed, and rubbed her tired eyes. She hadn't slept in a over a week- and it was beginning to show. She could feel herself sweating, and getting more and more pale as time passed by. Her gummy body was starting to get all sluggish. Finally, Princess Bubblegum took her lab coat off, and told Cinnamon Bun to go home.

It was time for sleep.

She had made her way all the way through the hallway, and to the door of her bedroom- when something stopped her. She could feel something... unsettling- in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, an image moved past her eyes.

A goats skull, floating in darkness.

Princess Bubblegum shivered. "No... it can't be..." she muttered to herself. Princess Bubblegum rubbed the tiara on her head, and a clear bubble appeared over her head- and then disappeared. Bubblegum opened a window, and floated out of it- up to the very top of the Candy Kingdom Castle. There was a giant tree sprouting from the top of the castle. Bubblegum made her way through the leaves, and into the center of the tree.

There, stood a giant monster- sealed in golden amber. It looked like a big skeleton, coated in tattered rags and broken armor. It's skull was wide, and had a set of sharp horns- like a goat. Princess Bubblegum frowned. "There aren't any ruptures..." she muttered to herself. "What are you doing?"

The skull did not respond.

Princess Bubblegum frowned, and left. She had spread herself very thin recently- it must have been a false alarm. At least- she really hoped so.

Once Bubblegum had left, the skeleton stood there- suspended in silence. Then, his mouth twisted into a smile.

* * *

_Warning: Author Notes_

* * *

_(AN: Alright! As of now, I will have added Flame Princess as one of the main characters of this story. I would have added her before- but I knew that I wasn't going to introduce her until a few chapters in. And I would have done the same for Flambo, too- but he's not on the list! Tsk- very sad. Although she did get a cameo in the second chapter... Anyway- now I think I'll steal something from the Ooobserver, and take this opportunity to thank those of you who were kind enough to review.)_

**Girlygirliscool** - Thanks for the advice on Finns speech patterns! I appreciate it. By the way- how Finn wound up in the Fire Kingdom after falling off the edge of a cliff is still a mystery...

**arauz1394** - Thank you for the kind words! I truly appreciate it. I hope you'll keep readin'!

**Andrea **- Thanks! I'm really glad that at least one person liked the cameo by LSP, and I'm even more glad that you seem to be enjoying the story. Hope you'll see this!

**Ooobserver** - Thanks for your correspondence concerning this story. I hope you'll read this chapter too!

_Until next time._


	5. Finn and Sun-Fro James

_Chapter Five: Finn and Sun-Fro James_

"Okay, so yous put in the sulfuric acid- yous can find a bunch a that over in the, uh- Toxic Kingdom. Anyways, yous put in some kinda tub- right? Then, well, yous pour in a whole bunch a the thermite. Couple o' big chunks a uranium, and a pinch of salt. Yous put that on a piece o' charcoal? Aw, _boy_... Hey! Are yous even listenin'?"

The newly formed trio of Finn, Flame Princess and Flambo had been walking for just a few hours now, and the only one among the group who had been doing any talking, was Flambo.

It was unusual for either of them to be so silent, but they both had their own reasons for not wanting to speak. For Flame Princess, it was a sense of deep seated awkwardness around the strange flesh-boy, and the fear that she might say something unbecoming of an evil princess. She had an image to uphold, after all.

But for Finn, it was something all together less complicated. He was just hot. And tired. The anti-fire spell that Tobey had cast on him was good for preventing horrible burns, but it didn't stop the uncontrollable sweating. Apparently, the magic hadn't been fitted with an air-conditioner. Finn made a note to make sure that every anti-fire spell he got cast on him from then one, would have an air-conditioner installed. Or, maybe three.

It didn't help that Finn had been forced to not only carry his own over-stuffed backpack, but a suitcase full of heavy luggage from the Flame Princess. Also- unbeknownst to him- Flambo had taped his own back to the back of Finns head. That, combined with the heat emanating from the fire trees, and the hot coals that seemed to make up the ground- made for one very tired boy. Too tired even to listen to Flambo's recipe for special charcoal sauce.

Finn groaned, and gasped for air- as they kept moving. On, and on. Hours passed by, and eventually, the sky began to darken. Although it was a little hard to tell when you were surrounded by fire. Still, Flame Princess decided, in her princess-ly manner, to set up camp for the night.

'Princess-ly' in this case, meant coming to sudden stop- and ordering Finn and Flambo to get to work setting up a tent, and a nice healthy dinner. Unfortunately for them, none of their bags happened to contain a pop up tent, and none of them new how to summon the Tent-Master, either. So, they made a few piles out of the hot coals that were all over the ground, and sat down on them. They felt a little crunchy- and for Finn, a little hot- but they were better than nothing.

Finn sighed, and set down the bags. After Flambo sneakily took back his bag from its place on the back of Finns head, he sat down next to Finn and started eating. Loudly. Finn opened his bag, and rummaged around for a while. Finally- he found what he was looking for. It was a cylinder of black stone, covered in runes- and a few scribbles from past owners. Things like 'Marceline was here', 'Property of Ice King', 'Quack' and a short story about a little girls adventures in a kingdom made out of candy. You know- the usual.

Finn unscrewed the top, just like Tobey had shown him. Then, he poured it's contents into his gaping mouth. Flame Princess, Flambo, and- seemingly- the entire forest, shared a collective shudder. The clear liquid that was spilling all over the boys face, was...

_Water._

After a few long minutes, Finn stopped drinking in order to spend some time coughing and sputtering- before he went right back to drinking. The cylinder appeared to contain an unlimited supply of water. Which was great for Finn. But, as Flame Princess' horrified face could tell you- it wasn't good for people made out of fire.

"Wha... What are you _doing_!?" she screamed.

Finn regarded her with a look, but he didn't stop drinking for a few more minutes. Finally, he stopped with a loud sigh of satisfaction, and screwed the lid back on. "I'm drinking. Why?" asked Finn. Flambo cleared his throat. "Well, ya see... We fire guys're a little, uh... _apprehensive_, when it comes to that wet stuff yous flesh-guys like so much..." he explained.

Finn blinked. "You mean... you're scared of it?" he asked.

"Eh, I like what I said better- but sure." said Flambo. Finn scratched his head. "Oh, yeah... I remember, I ran into some, uh, water guys, when I fist came here... Those flame-people seemed really scared" he mused, as he carefully put his water container back into his backpack.

"Oh? I think I heard about... that was yous, huh? Yous really _guzzled _those guys?" asked Flambo.

Finn nodded.

"What!? You say you somehow managed to fight off a waterdrop man? That's impossible! No flesh-creature can fight an elemental!" yelled Flame Princess. Finn shook his head. "Nu-uh. It was super easy. I just drank them. They tasted pretty good, actually..." he said.

"Aw, boy- I wish I coulda been there ta see that!" said Flambo. "Those jerks've been comin' into the city ta bully people for loike... A real long time."

"Well, how come people don't do anything?" asked Finn. "Aren't you guys supposed to have some kinda gaurd or something?". Flambo shrugged. "I dunno- they're scared, I guess. And there ain't no police force there or nothin'- not like a bunch've other kingdoms I've heard of." explained Flambo.

Finn frowned. "Isn't... Isn't that kinda weird?" he asked.

Flame Princess huffed. "Our people have no need for such... um... _junk_! In this world; the weak must die!" she announced.

"That's not true..." said Finn.

"Or course it's true! That's how junk works!" said Flame Princess. Flambo sighed. "Yeah, yeah- cool yer jets, Miss Hotpants." he grumbled. While Flame Princess blushed, and reprimanded Flambo for embarrassing her in front of the fleshy freak, Finn rubbed his stomach. He had been so preoccupied with water- that he had forgotten all about food. His stomach growled at him, as if it were upset at the prospect of being ignored for so long.

Finn gave it a loving pat, and then started rummaging around inside his handy-dandy backpack once more. After he had pulled out a variety of different canned goods, he lined them up beside each other- and tried to figure out which one was going to be the best choice for dinner. As he stared at the cans with gunger crazed eyes, and drool began to pour out of his mouth like a waterfall; Flame Princess turned away from Flambo to face Finn again.

"Anyways- Like I was saying, junk is all about power, and you can only get powerful if your _evil._ Didn't your dad ever tell you-" She stopped mid-sentance, when she noticed the look on Finns face. Finn noticed her look of horror, and hastily wiped his mouth with his shirt. His mom had always told him and his siblings never to drool when company was around. At least- not excessively. "Um, sorry... Did you want something to eat, Fire Princess?" asked Finn.

Flame Princess frowned. "My name is _Flame_ Princess! And of course not! When your as evil as I am, you have no need for-"

She was interrupted by her stomach, which had just made a long, angry growl. She blushed again, and cleared her throat. "Anyway- People of the Flame Kingdom don't take charity. We take other stuff, like jewelry, or souls- but not charity!" she announced. Flambo walked by her, and picked up one of the cans. "Hey- Can I have this one? It's gots charcoal chunks." said Flambo. Finn shrugged. Flambo grinned, and happily ripped off the top and started eating with his hands, his tail wagging happily behind him.

"_Flam-bo_!" yelled Flame Princess.

Flambo ignored the princess, and flashed Finn a happy grin, as he finished his can of Lava Soup with a final slurp. "Aw, man! These is great! Yous get all o' these from the old guy?" he asked. Finn nodded. "Um, yeah. But... I thought you didn't want me mentionin' him..." he muttered. Flambo snapped his non-existant fingers. "Aw, yeah. Sorry 'bout that. Anywho- have you seen that knew fire-play?" he asked.

"What's a fire-play?" asked Finn. Flambo threw the empty can behind him, and let out a loud burp. After flossing his teeth with his tail for a moment, he continued. "Well, it's a lot like the Cherry-Theatre yous hear about all the time. You know- the one over in that Kingdom? Anywho- It's basically a thing where a bunch of attention craving morons stand on a stage and act out some kind story to try and make the audience feel some kinda emotion. Usually, deep-seated misery." said Flambo.

"People pay money to go see something that makes 'em sad? That's... real dumb." said Finn.

Flambo nodded. "Yep. Everyone's _real _stupid. Anyway- so, a few nights ago, there was this new guy. Unlike the groups of people who make costumes, and play out a story- this guy just stood in the middle of the stage and did was _real_ funny. Snappy dresser, too." said Flambo.

"Snappy, huh?"

"Yep. Super snappy."

Flambo and Finns intimite 'snappy' discussion was suddenly interrupted, when Flame Princess strode over to the pair in a huff, and took one of Finn's cans of food. "I am stealing this!" she announced. Finn blinked. Before he could say anything else, she picked up Flambo, and another can of food- and walked over to her bed. "You stay here, Flambo." she ordered, as she dropped Flambo onto the pile of coals. Flambo groaned. "Aw, come on Princess. There ain't no monsters around here for you to be scared..." he grumbled.

"I'm not scared! Shut up!" she yelled.

As Flame Princess finished her dinner, and pretended to forget about the mountain of paperwork that was sitting inside her suitcase, Finn laid down, and looked up at the sky. It was hard to see the darkness of the night sky. Most of it was polluted by the light of the millions of fires that made up the Valley of Scorching. Finn sighed. He could feel a lump of sadness forming in his chest- and he tried to choke it down as best he could.

He couldn't go adventuring if he was feeling all homesick. He took another deep breath, and closed his eyes. After a few hours of tossing and turning on the bed of coals, he finally fell asleep.

* * *

_The room was bathed in a dull orange glow. Finn could hear a soft tune playing somewhere beside him. He tried to sit up- but he couldn't. After looking around for a while- he finally found the source of the music._

_It was a little box, with a wind up key in the side. Finn stared at it for a while. Suddenly, a shadow was cast over him._

_"Are you having trouble sleeping, little one?"_

_Finn couldn't see who it was standing over him. It looked like a tall silloughette. Finn opened his mouth to say something; but all that came out was a low gurgle._

_"Aw, sweetheart... Maybe you'd like a nighty-night song?"_

_Finn didn't say anything. Instead, he stared up at the strange silloughette; with an expectant look. The silloughette chuckled._

_"Okay, okay. Let's see..._

_Come along with me,_

_And the butterflies and bees,_

_We can wander through the forest,_

_And do so as we please,_

_Come along with me,_

_To a cliff under a tree..."_

_Finn could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. The silhouette brought her face into the crib, and placed a small kiss on his forehead. _

_"Good night, sweetheart."_

* * *

Finn opened his eyes slowly, just as the magma-roosters began their morning call. It took him a while to remember why it was that he was currently surrounded by fire. And when he did, he breathed a tired sigh; and started rummaging around in his bag for breakfast. A few minutes after Finn had managed to find an appropriate 'breakfast-time' can, and a spoon to go with it, Finn noticed Flambo slowly sit himself up- and wriggle out of the tight embrace of the Flame Princess.

"Heya, pal. Yous got another can for little ol' me?" he asked. Finn nodded, and gestured to bag. "Sure. Tobey gave me a whole big bunch." said Finn.

And so, Finn and Flambo sat next to each other, quietly eating their breakfast. After a loud burp, Finn put his empty can back into the bag- along with his spoon. "Okay. You know what way we're heading?" asked Finn. Flambo finished his can, and threw it behind him. "Yeah, sure- I mean, I guess. What we're supposed to do is climb over Mount Blazing over there- and then go through the Robot Kingdom. But even then, I think we still gotta jump through some hoops ta get there. Oh, wait... Naw, sorry- we don't go through the Hoop Kingdom. We go through the ice one, I think..." Flambo muttered. "Hold up; I think I still gots that there book a information 'round here somewhere..."

As Flambo tried to remember where he had put the monster book of information and directions that the Flame King had given him, Finns eyes began to sparkle.

He had dreamed about the Kingdoms of Ooo for as long as he could remember. Ever since his mother told him his very first adventure story. Flambo found the book and turned to face Finn, just in time to find him literally frothing at the mouth. "Uh... Finn? What, er-... What's goin' on?" he asked. Finn wiped the 'froth' from his mouth with the back of his hand, and flicked it onto the ground. "Sorry... I'm just... excited..." he muttered. Flambo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Well, yous can go ahead an' keep that stuff to yerself, 'kay?" asked Flambo.

"What's the book about?" asked Finn. Flambo sighed. "Well... It's a guide, basically; to all of the legendary-est legendary stuff of legend around here in Ooo." he explained.

Finn began to froth again. "Wow... can you read it to me?" he asked. Flambo snorted. "What? _No_. You read it." he huffed. "But, I don't know how to... read... good." said Finn.

"What? Really? How come? You skip school and stuff? 'Cuz my cousin Vinnie did that. He's super happy now, too."

"No... My mom tried to teach me and junk, but... It's super boring..."

"Oh, I know. Flambit school ain't no carefree dinner party- although, there _were _a few carefree dinner parties every now and again. They were great. Anyway; I had to deal with all of this soap opera stuff. And I had to use _hand_ soap. Plus- I'm not so good with the singin'. Anyway; enough reminiscing We's better get movin'. Can you wake the Princess?" asked Flambo.

Finn nodded. He pulled out a can of screaming undead souls, and walked over to the princess' sleeping form. "Hey, Princess? Can you wake up? We've gotta go. I got ya some breakfast- you like souls, right?" he asked.

Flame Princess opened her eyes slowly. She frowned. Her eyes were having trouble adjusting, and all she could see in front of her was a weird globby silhouette. She frowned. "I don't wanna do my homework..." she groaned. "Can't you do other handmaiden junk?"

Finn scratched his head. "I'm not a maiden... I'm Finn. Come on, Princess. Quit kiddin' around. We gotta go!" he said.

Flame Princess rubbed her eyes. Soon enough, she could make out the image of Finn, standing over her- holding a can. She flinched, and as if by pure reflex- a ball of fire burst out of her body, slamming Finn in the chest. There was a small explosion, leaving Finn standing in the middle of a small crater- glowing blue again thanks to Tobey's protection spell. There was a moment of awkward silence, as they stared blankly at each other. Then, Flame Princess carefully stood herself up- and dusted herself off.

"Th-... That was _your_ fault." she muttered, as she pulled the can out of Finns hand and walked past him. Finn blinked. "Wow... That was _awesome_! Do you explode stuff every morning?" he asked. Flame Princess stopped in her tracks, and thought about it for a moment.

"Um... Just once a week, I think." she said.

"Oh... Well, I mean... That's awesome, too- I guess... I mean, not as awesome as every morning, but..." muttered Finn. "Hey! Come on! I thought yous said yous wanted ta get a move on!" yelled Flambo, as he carefully picked up his secret charcoal bag. Finn nodded, and picked up his handy-dandy backpack, and the Princess' suitcase.

And so, as the trio started the second day of their journey, their morning was filled with walking through a forest of fire, as the Flame Princess began eating her can of screaming undead souls with a spoon.

A fairly normal morning, all things considered.

* * *

Hours seemed to pass by quickly as they walked. The pathway was fairly narrow, as Flambo walked a few steps ahead of the others, reading the monster-book guide, while the Finn and Flame Princess trailed behind. Finn groaned. He had actually started getting used to the heat now, and the luggage he was carrying felt like it was a little easier to carry now. So now, the only problem he had was with the crushing, unrelenting boredom.

Finally, after trying to think- and quickly realising that it wasn't for him- he turned his attention to the Flame Princess. Finn cleared his throat. "Hey, so- um, what's Princess junk like?" he asked.

Flame Princess frowned. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well... I mean, what do you do? Do you fight monsters and stuff?" he asked.

"Of course not. A princess' sole duty is to hold contempt for her people. Haven't you ever read 'Princess-ing for Dummies'?" asked Flame Princess. Finn shook his head. "Nu-uh. Have you?" he asked. Flame Princess shrugged. "Well, my dad- I mean... The King, he told me about the important stuff. Contempt is one of them. And, um... greed. I think." she explained.

"Oh... I thought you guys were supposed to be _good_..." said Finn.

Flame Princess rolled her eyes. "No! Only good princesses are good! We evil princesses are- um... really bad!" she said. Finn thought about that for a moment. "Huh... I geuss that makes sense..." he said. "But, why do you wanna be-"

Finn was interrupted all of a sudden- by Flambo. "Hey, you don't have any coffee in that big back back o' youses, do ya?" he asked. Finn shook his head. "No, I'm not a'sposed to drink coffee until I'm, um..." Finn counted his fingers for a moment, and then continued speaking. "Thirteen, I think."

Flambo sighed. "Aw, man- I think I left my tabasco-coffee back home... oh well..." he muttered.

And just like that, there was complete silence again. Finn's line of conversation with the Princess apparently forgotten. After a few more minutes, Finn groaned. "Awww, where are all the brutal life-threatening monsters? Or the brutal life-threatening explosions? And treasure and junk. We've been journeying for as long as I can remember, and we still haven't found anything!"

"Are there supposed to be life-threatening things in a journey?" asked Flame Princess.

"Well... In the good ones, anyway."

"Do you want me to try and kill you some more?"

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up- But I'd rather we just found something really cool. Like a giant demon battle-axe with wings that trys to destroy us with its powerful donut cannons. You know- like something from an adventure story." said Finn.

"Hows about this sign?" asked Flambo. Immediately, Finn and Flame Princess stopped in the tracks, and looked at the sign the Flambo was pointing too. It looked like a piece of paper, nailed to one of the fire trees. The fire tree seemed be trying to pull it out- but with little success. Flambo lept up, and pulled off the piece of paper. It was covered in red markings.

"What's it say?" asked Finn.

Flambo shrugged. "Aw, well- It looks like it's just a bunch of stuff about some kinda big... Ooh! Free refreshments!" he exclaimed. "It says here that all we gotta do is follow the extension chord... Come on, yous!"

Flame Princess frowned. "We don't have time for refreshments, Flambo." she said. Flambo ignored her completely as he noticed a white extension cord lying on the ground. It was stretched out into the deeper parts of the forest. Without a second thought- Flambo raced into the forest, following the chord all the way.

As they watched Flambo disappear into the forest, Finn and Flame Princess turned to face each other.

"Should we follow him?" asked Finn.

"Hmph. I only follow one thing!" yelled Flame Princess.

"Really? What is it?"

"Myself!"

"Huh... What about your, um, King guy?"

"Oh, well... I geuss I'll follow daddy if he asks..."

"I think we should follow Flambo."

"Why? Let him go. Obviously he thinks refreshments are more important than this mission."

"But he has the map."

"... I have an idea! We shall follow Flambo!"

"Uh... sure."

With that, Finn and Flame Princess followed the long white extension chord into the thick firey forest. They could see Flambo running off in the distance. Rather than run to catch up, they both kept a steady walking pace.

It wasn't long before they reached the destination. A giant cave with a sign outside with more odd scribbling on it. Finn and Flame Princess walked in without a second thought.

And they were both equally surprised with what they found.

* * *

Flambo had been to a few cave-disco's before. Maybe two. And this one was superior by far. The inside of the cave was huge, and covered with dozens of dancing fire creatures. Above them there hung a giant disco ball, and blaring out of a pair of giant speakers on the walls, was the grooviest- and loudest- music he had ever heard.

Disco music wasn't very common in the land of Ooo. But in the Fire Kingdom, it had began to find a new life- ever since Sun-Fro James showed up. He had single handedly revived disco, bell-bottoms and platform shoes. Of course, he couldn't claim credit for reviving the afro. Because afro's never died.

As Sun-Fro James' newest hit 'Groovin On Next to You' blared through the speakers, Flambo made his way through the dancing crowd, and over to the refreshments table. It was a long row of tables all standing next to each other. Each one of them with a different kind of drink on it. There were bottles, cans, cups and a few giant punch bowls, all filled with some different kind of liquid. Flambo made a conscious decision to avoid the ones that bubbled, glowed, or both. And so, in the end- he decided to play it safe, and sit next to the punch bowl that was filled with oil.

As her poured himself his second cup, he stared off into the crowd.

Everybody seemed really happy. That was actually pretty rare for the Fire Kingdom. Usually, everybody was either depressed or angry. Probably due to the influence of their King. Flambo sighed.

He had never really been one to care for the so-called 'greater good'. That sort of thinking was more suited to somebody like Tobey- not him. But still... Flambo couldn't help but hope that when the time finally came for the Flame Princess to fill the role of leader of the entire Fire Kingdom... That parties like these wouldn't be considered so rare.

Flambo drank his cup of oil, and let out a loud belch. "Aws, mans... thats stuffs goods..." he slurred. As he started pouring himself yet another cups worth, he noticed some kind of disturbance in the crowd- along with a voice yelling at people to 'bow down before me'. Flambo sighed. It hadn't taken long for the Flame Princess to come along and ruin his fun...

He couldn't help but smile. Oh well. She wasn't as bad as the King, at least.

"Flambo!" yelled Flame Princess from amongst the crowd. "Come over here right now! You are to be punished!" she exclaimed. Flambo rolled his eyes, and kept on slurping from his cup. Finally, Flame Princess popped out from between a pair of dancing magma-moles, and stood infront of Flambo with her hands on her hips.

"Are you drinking _oil_!?" she exclaimed.

"Awwws, lightens ups Princesses. I'ms ofs legals ages." Flambo slurred between sips. Flame Princess grit her teeth. "You ran off in the middle of this journey in order to _drink_? What's wrong with you?" she demanded.

Flambo groaned, and carefully stood himself up. "Its okays, Princesses. Wes cans goes-es ins as seconds..." he said. With that, he carefully picked up the punch bowl, and poured its entire contents into his gaping mouth. Streams of the black oil washed down his body before burning up- as he continued to chug for almost a full minute. Finally, with the punch bowl now empty- and his stomach almost fully distended, he put down the punch bowl and let out a burp that seemed to shake the entire cave. The music stopped for a moment, as everybody stopped dancing for a moment, and turned to face Flambo.

Flame Princess blushed, and flinched with embarrassment as she felt the eyes of dozens of people on her and her servant. Flambo grinned, and gave the crowd a polite bow.

The crowd burst into laughter and cheers. Soon enough, the music went back on- and everybody went back to dancing.

While Flame Princess began to scorn Flambo for embarrassing her like that, Finn was squeezing through the crowd of dancers, looking completely lost. After tripping over a group of giant fire-ants that were in the middle of a conga line, he ran into a tall flame-man, with a massive firey afro.

"Hey, check yourself- kid!" he yelled.

"Aw, sorry... It's just... I can't find my, um... my group, anywhere..." muttered Finn.

"What's that, kid? You have to speak up! My grooves are playin' at a massive decibel level!" yelled the flame-man.

"I SAID, I CAN'T FIND MY FRIENDS! HAVE YOU SEEN THEM AROUND HERE!?" yelled Finn.

The flame-man thought for a second, and shook his head. "Naw, man. Can't say I have. Say- what's your name, lil' man!?" asked the flame-man.

"IT'S FINN! WHAT'S YOURS!?" asked Finn.

"Name's Sun-Fro James. That's my music bein' played over the speakers!"

"OH... YOU'RE GOOD! I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW A WHOLE BUNCH ABOUT MUSIC IN THE CONVENTIONAL SENSE, BUT IT SEEMS GROOVE... um... _TASTIC!_?"

"Thanks, Finn. I was goin' for 'Groove-tastic'." said the flame-man, with a genuine smile. He was easily one of the tallest flame-people Finn has ever seen. He was wearing a pair of over-sized sunglasses, complete with a big handle-bars moustache, and an enormous afro. It seemed to glow red, and then orange- all the while radiating with an intense heat. He was wearing what looked like a silver tuxedo of some kind- with what were known as 'bell bottom' pants. And big platform shoes.

Sun-Fro removed his sunglasses for a moment, and gave Finn an odd look. Finally, he put his sunglasses back on and cleared his throat. "Hey... you wouldn't happen to be a _human _by any chance- would you?" he asked.

Finn nodded.

"Well I'll be... and here I thought I'd seen everything..." Sun-Fro muttered. "Well then, Finn the human- is there somethin' I can do for you? You look a little... outta sorts."

"UH- SURE!" yelled Finn. "CAN YOU HELP ME FIND MY- ... WELL, UM... WHAT... WHAT'S THE WORD!? UH... COMPANIONS!?"

Sun-Fro scratched his chin as he considered this. "Well... How many are there?" he asked. Finn counted with his fingers to make sure before he answered. "TWO!" he yelled. Sun-Fro sighed. "Aw, well... Okay- Tell you what. I'll turn the tunes down for a minute and let you call for 'em on the mike. Sound like a plan?" he asked.

Finn nodded again. The idea of having the music turned down sounded great too. Finn had always liked loud music- but this was a little too much, if the blood currently trickling down from his ears was any indication.

Finn and Sun-Fro made their way through the crowd of dancing fire-creatures very slowly, doing their best to avoid getting caught up in a conga-line along the way.

After breaking away from their third conga-line, they finally found themselves standing in front of the stage. Sun-Fro walked over to the DJ and whispered something into his ear.

"Wak." was the reply.

Sun-Fro frowned. "C'mon, Gunther. The kid just wants some time to find his friends." he explained.

"Wak."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. An extra can of tuna."

"Wak!"

The penguin DJ fiddled with the dials in front of him, and Finn slowly made his way to the middle of the stage. Some of the dancers were already begining to complain about the music being turned down, as Finn adjust the microphone and cleared his throat. "Um... hello? Is this working?" he asked.

Finns voice echoed throughout the room, cutting through the sound of the dancers grumbling. "Oh, okay... good. Um... Flame Princess?"

Suddenly, all of the dancers went quiet.

"Flame Princess? Did you find Flambo yet? Where are you guys?" asked Finn.

Suddenly, Finn could see a petite hand raised in the middle of the crowd.

"Um, W-we're over here..."

The crowd immediately separated, revealing the form of the Flame Princess, carrying a sleeping Flambo in her arms. She grit her teeth, as she tried to hoist him over her shoulder. "How... how's... he... so... _heavy_..." she muttered to herself. As she grumbled and cursed the drunken flambit under her breath, the crowd began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Is that truly her?"

"Could it be?"

"But... I heard that she was sealed away..."

As Finn jumped off of the stage to help Flame Princess with Flambo, the crowd had gradually begun to surround them. By the time either of them had noticed, they were completely surrounded by a sea of angry faces. "Uh... is there a, uh... problem?" asked Finn. The crowd hissed.

"Is that truly the Princess of the Fire Kingdom?" one of them demanded.

Finn nodded, slowly. "Yeah... She is... Right, Flame Princess?" he asked. Flame Princess frowned and nodded. "Of course I am! Now make way! We are on a quest- and I have to figure out an appropriate punishment for _this_ idiot." she grumbled, as she continued to struggle to carry the sleeping idiot in question.

Suddenly, Sun-Fro appeared from within the crowd. "I see..." he muttered. He glanced at Finn, and sighed. "Human... I'm sorry. I don't want to do this to you but... if you truly are a companion to the... _Princess_... then I can't show any mercy. Everyone..." he called out, addressing the crowd in it's entirety.

"Kill them."

Finn blinked. "Wha... huh? K-... Kill _who_ now?" he sputtered.

Sun-Fro frowned. "I don't usually consider it my business to snuff out an endangered species like yourself- but if you're a friend to our enemy... You are our enemy too." he explained.

"Excuse me? I'm not your enemy- I haven't even _met_ you before!" yelled Flame Princess. Sun-Fro grit his teeth. "You are just as ignorant as I thought. You're a critical member of one of the most evil kingdoms in all of Ooo. The daughter of the _Flame King_..." he spat. The entire crowd gave a loud hiss at the mention of the Flame King. "You're an enemy to our species- no, Ooo itself."

The crowd began to draw closer to Finn and the Flame Princess, all of them with their hands stretched out in front of them. Some of them were carrying pitchforks and torches that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. "What's going on!?" yelled Finn. "Isn't killing your Princess kinda... _bad_!?" Sun-Fro ignored him, as the crowd continued to draw ever closer, all of there eyes gleaming with a sadistic joy. "Hold still, and it'll only hurt for an hour or so..." one of them hissed.

Finn gulped. "Wait! Hold on- stand back! I've got a... a..." he said, as he desperately searched for a weapon. Then- he got an idea.

Finn grabbed Flambo by the tail, and began spinning him in the air. "HYAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Finn. With that, Finn slammed Flambo into the crowd, sending several flame-creatures flying backwards. Finn continued to spin his still-sleeping 'weapon' around, as a few members of the crowd seemed to pause in thir attack.

"Come on, Princess! I'll bat them away, and then we can make our escape." explained Finn.

Unfortunately, Flame Princess wasn't listening to Finn. She was too angry to hear anything anymore. Slowly, her hair began to rise into the air, and her body began to grow and contort. Her eyes began to glow bright red, as she let out a low growl. "You... wanna... fight..._** ME!?**_" she screamed. The entire cave shook under the power of her voice.

Sun-Fro sighed. "Huh... so it really is you, Flame Princess." he grumbled. "Well, I wasn't supposed to use this for a few more years, but... well- I guess this is as good a time as any." he said as he plunged a hand into his afro, and began feeling around for something.

**"You think your afro has the power to kill ME!?"** Flame Princess bellowed.

Sun-Fro rolled his eyes. "Not, my 'fro- no. This." he said. Suddenly, Sun-Fro found what he was looked for a pulled it out. He smiled, as he held it up for everyone to see. Immediately, the crowd gasped- and started to back away. it was a small leather bound book. Finn could make out what was scribbled on the front- but something about it seemed a little familiar.

**"A book of curses!? Please- my daddy makes me go through the Big Book of Anti-Curses like, twice a day!"** yelled Flame Princess.

Sun-Fro smiled and opened the book. "Curse of the four powers! Vylick Nesparr!" he bellowed. All of a sudden, a massive gust of energy began to flow out of the book, and immediately launch itself towards Flame Princess.

Flame Princess chuckled, as the curse seemed to bounce off of her, and hit one of the people in the crowd. **"Oh, come on. Try something a little more powerful next time!" **she bellowed.

"Oh... very well. Dance of the lost, end of the promised... ANMUH EIBGN!" Sun-Fro bellowed.

A stream of light shot out of the book. It moved too quickly for Flame Princess to so much as flinch- let alone set up a barrier. The let slammed into her chest, and sent her flying into the ceiling.

_**"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_ she screamed, as the light continued to pour out of the book, holding her up into the ceiling. Finn felt something in the pit of his stomach. He gulped, and picked up Flambo. "LET HER GO!" he screamed, as he swung Flambo into the book- sending it flying out of Sun-Fro's hands. Before Sun-Fro could say anything, Finn swung Flambo straight into his face.

Flame Princess fell from ceiling, and hit the ground with a loud 'thud'.

Suddenly, the cave began to shake. The entire crowd seemed to be all running in the same direction, even as massive rocks began to fall from the ceiling. Massive fissure began to open in the ground, and the walls, as everything seemed to crumble all around them. Finn raced over to Flame Princess, and picked her up. She was kinda heavy- but nothing compared to Flambo, who Finn had resorted to dragging around by the tail.

Finn grit his teeth. He could feel his pulse in every part of his body. That feeling in the pit of his stomach was growing, and growing. Finn looked around, doing his best to ove out of the way of the massive chunks of rock that were falling from the ceiling.

"Okay... I gotta focus... I can't freak out- 'cuz if I freak out, then I'll probably get all twitchy, and then I'll die. Just like in a videogame. Just do what Jake tell's you to do... just... be... cool..." Finn muttered to himself. He took a deep breath, and looked around. Suddenly- he noticed a fissure in the wall. He could see a tiny sliver of light leaking out of it.

Finn took a deep breath. "Well... okay... I guess this is better than getting mangled..." he muttered to himself. Finn dragged Flambo and the Flame Princess behind him, and when he finally made it to the massive fissure- pushed them through. Then- once they were out, he took a deep breath, and squeezed himself through.

He was outside again, and- with his two firey companions both unconscious and weighing heavily on his arms- he ran.

It was some time before Finn finally stopped running, and collapsed in a heap. Between massive gulps for air, he managed to roll onto his back, and slowly push the still unconscious forms of Flame Princess and Flambo off of his tired frame.

"Aw... man... that's... *phew*... That's the last time I ever go to a _disco_..." he muttered.

* * *

_"Is he dead?"_

_"Naw- 'es just real busted up is all. His 'fro took most of the damage."_

_"I see... and you say he placed upon the Princess the curse of the humans?"_

_"Yep-yep. That's the one."_

_"Hmm... Well- it would seem our plans may have to be changed to fit this event... Nevertheless- make sure Sun-Fro receives an appropriate reward for snuffing out the Flame Kings greatest weapon."_

_"Yeah, okay. Anything else, dude?"_

_"No."_

_"You sure?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Because, like, if you want, I could maybe send a message to our allies about this..."_

_"..."_

_"You want me to do that?"_

_"... Fine."_

_"Awesome. Should I start with the Ice Wizard?"_

_"No. Leave him out of this. He will only prove to be a thorn in our side."_

_"I agree. Oh! Apparently, there was a human there too. Want me to get some bounty hunters to take care of 'im?"_

_"If he does not fall by the elements first, then sure."_

_"Coolio."_

_"... I hate you."_

_"I know, sir."_

* * *

_(**AN**:Okay- so, I kinda... have to apologise. ... Sorry. It took me a little too much time to figure out what I wanted to do with the second part of this chapter. I have plenty of plans for the next few chapters- but, alas- I haven't written them just yet.)**  
**_

**_Oobserver:_**Yeah... sorry, again, for the delay. (ahem) This story is- if my plans come to fruition- going to be very big. Which means that I have to be careful what I write down, 'cuz I have to think about how its going to affect things later...

**_Andrea:_** This story takes place in an alternate universe very close to the original 'Adventure Time' universe. So, no- Finn and Flame Princess won't have to lose their memories in the end so that the events of the show can take place. Thanks for reading, and- uh... sorry about the delay. I'll do my best not to let it happen again.


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